The Beginning of the End: A RWBY Vol 1 PU
by Dagoron
Summary: Riley Stynn didn't want to be a huntress. All she wanted was a little formal training before returning to her village. But one single day her senior year at Signal Academy set Riley on a course far different and far deadlier than she had planned. This story follows along side the events of RWBY Volume 1.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Riley lazily looked out the window, her head resting heavy in her hand. The clouds strolled sleepily across the vast, blue sky lulling her into an even deeper trance. In the background she vaguely registered the teacher talking. All her ears perceived were a distorted series of incomprehensible grunts and grumbles. Riley sighed. She was not overly fond of the classroom setting, much preferring the freedom and excitement the forest around Signal offered. Her senior year had barely begun and she was already feeling cramped and restless. Her black and orange striped tail twitched in annoyance as her edginess increased. Maybe it was her Faunus heritage that made her long for the outdoors. She certainly didn't get it from her upbringing.

A sharp voice snapped her away from her thoughts, "Ms. Stynn would you care to give us the answer?"

"Hm?" Riley answered half-heartedly, still not quite back in her desk.

Her teacher, Mrs. Charming, frowned at her.

"The answer," she repeated, "The question was: What is the most important thing to remember as a future hunter/huntress?"

Riley blinked, "Uh…not to die?"

A few chuckles sounded around the room, but their existence was minute. Mrs. Charming slapped her ruler down on the table, her blond hair wavering slightly because of the impact, "Ms. Stynn your classroom etiquette has been atrocious since day one. I will not have you both spacing out _and_ playing the role of class clown. Am I understood?"

"So I can just space out? Cool…" Riley answered, rolling her eyes.

Glancing back at Mrs. Charming she saw that a vein had popped up on her head. The teacher growled and said, "See me after class."

Riley saw a few guys snicker, but ignored them. She shrugged and nodded. Mrs. Charming growled again, but went back to teaching. In response, Riley again turned her attention to the sky.

A shrill ringing filled the classroom signaling the end of the class period. All of the students quickly stood and moved toward the door. Riley got up and slowly made her way to the front of the room. Not turning her green eyes from her papers, Mrs. Charming started in on her, "Ms. Stynn, I'm going to be curt. I read over your file prior to the start of this year and one thing was very clear: the only reason you are still enrolled at this school is because of your combat scores. You are in the top fifth percentile among your peers. Conversely, your academic scores are mediocre at best and your personality is less than stellar. That kind of record reflects poorly on you. How do you expect to get into a prestigious academy like Beacon if your overall scores remain as they are?"

"I don't," Riley responded simply.

Mrs. Charming blinked, obviously not expecting that answer.

"Excuse me?" she began, "If not Beacon then where?"

"Nowhere. After I graduate from Signal, I'm heading back home."

"You have no intention of being a huntress?" inquired the teacher, still dumbfounded.

Riley shook her head.

"Then why on Vytal are you enrolled at Signal?"

"Because I figured I had to know how to defend myself. My village is prone to fairly frequent Grimm attacks. Now that I've got weapons training from here I can head back home and pick up a local job."

This made Mrs. Charming frown, "That's unfortunate. I had hoped that underneath that stubbornly impertinent exterior there was some form of determined young woman who had strong drives at doing something with her life. I guess I was mistaken."

Mrs. Charming waited a moment to see if Riley would comment. When she didn't the teacher sighed, "Regardless, I expect a vast improvement in your disposition before the school year is over. Also, should you find yourself partaking in any kind of insubordinate action tomorrow during the field trip, I will personally push for severe disciplinary action. Am I clear?"

Riley shrugged drawing another sigh from Mrs. Charming.

"You are dismissed Ms. Stynn."

Riley nodded and quickly made her way to the door.

The autumn air was cool and crisp. Red and gold leaves littered the ground the group of students walked on. Patch, the island Signal resided on, was always a few degrees colder than the mainland because of its location and that meant bearable weather on the docks was usually frigid weather on Patch. While most of the other students were bundled up to fend off the cold, Riley was perfectly comfortable in her short sleeve black tee. Her long legs drifted from out of the bottom of a red and blue skirt and disappeared into a set of dark boots. She looked around at the browning foliage and smiled. She loved Fall; it was her favorite time of year. The extreme cold of winter hadn't yet taken hold of the land and the scenery was absolutely beautiful. She was so absorbed in her thoughts she didn't hear someone rush up behind her.

"Riley!"

Riley felt an arm curl around her waist and was then suddenly face down on the ground. An energetic voice quickly commented, "Oops…."

Riley sat up, rubbing her nose and growled, "Yang!"

The young blonde grinned widely, "Sorry Riles! I guess I figured you'd land on your feet."

Yang beamed at an irritated Riley. Rolling her eyes, the Faunus sighed, "Uh-huh…"

Yang continued to grin as she said, "So whatcha thinking about?"

As Riley stood she replied, "Just how nice the forest looks."

"I know right!" Yang exclaimed as they began walking again, "Red and gold; my favorite colors!"

"Yeah," said Riley, finally chuckling.

There was a short pause that was broken by Yang, "So I was coming to meet you yesterday and couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Mrs. Charming. You don't want to go to Beacon?"

Riley sighed. It never took long for Yang to get to her point. Her inquiry about Riley's thoughts was an uncharacteristic segway. She must have been trying to temper her bluntness. Riley knew it wouldn't last long. She decided that her best course of action would be to go with it; Yang would keep pestering her otherwise.

"No," Riley finally answered, "Don't want to."

Yang frowned, "C'mon Riles! You'd be a great huntress!"

"Not my calling. My family needs me back home."

The blonde began to argue, but hung her head low and sighed in defeat when Riley shot her a look. Riley put a hand on her shoulder, "I'm not leaving until the year is out and even when I'm gone, I'll keep in touch!"

That seemed to reinvigorate Yang's excitability. She perked up immediately, "You're right! Let's make the most of this year!"

Riley chuckled at Yang's gear change, "Definitely!"

Their conversation was interrupted by Mrs. Charming's voice, "Ms. Stynn! You will be with me. Ms. Xiao Long you will be in Group Two. Chop chop!"

Yang gave an empathetic grimace, "Good luck…"

"Yeah," Riley muttered, returning the look of despair.

Waving goodbye, the two girls went their separate ways. As the groups split apart, Mrs. Charming pulled Riley to the side, "I just wanted to remind you of our discussion yesterday Ms. Stynn. You'd do well to remember it and stay out of trouble."

"I'll do my best," replied Riley, her ears twitching slightly in annoyance.

As they continued walking, Riley subtly scooted away from Mrs. Charming. She glanced around at the rest of the group. Riley recognized two of them by name and the rest of them by face. She wasn't extrovertive by nature and, as such, found her group of friends to be small in number. Letting out a sigh, she suddenly missed Yang's excitable personality. While loud, it at least livened the atmosphere.

Before they had set out earlier that morning, the students had been assigned to groups and each given a section of the island to map out; it wasn't exactly a challenging task, but it _was_ boring. Each group was seven to eight members in size and overseen by a ranking member of the faculty. Riley's group had been assigned to the northeastern corner of Patch which held the majority of the island's trees. As they walked along the path taking note of outstanding landmarks, Riley kept her ears keen. While the Grimm population on Patch was notably less than other areas around Vale (like Forever Fall), it still had enough of them to warrant caution.

Two hours passed and Riley was having a difficult time keeping her cool. Her ability to keep her boredom in check had reached its apex an hour and forty five minutes earlier and she was becoming uncomfortably fidgety. She ran her hand through her blue hair in frustration and suddenly remembered her backpack. Riley sat down on a nearby rock and removed it from her shoulders. Plopping it down in front of her, she contemplated extracting its contents.

Before school had let out the previous day, the students had been told that bringing their weapons was prohibited as the areas they were surveying, while faintly inhabited by Grimm, were not above their teachers' martial prowess. This was decided by the faculty in an attempt to prevent group injuries in the unlikely event of an attack. While the students had dabbled in combat scenarios during their first three years at Signal, the primary curriculum had been academic. The senior year at the school was the year that students began having a heavy focus in martial practices. As such, a lot of the students were not, in the eyes of the faculty, prepared to use their weapons competently out in the field.

This didn't stop some of the students, however. Riley was aware that a few of her classmates had smuggled their weapons out of the classroom, herself and Yang included, but she wasn't sure if she should risk revealing it; especially after Mrs. Charming's verbal warnings earlier. Letting out a sigh, Riley shouldered her backpack and headed back to her group. The noonday sun was just reaching its apex in the sky, but the thick red and yellow canopy filtered enough of the light to give the feel of late afternoon. Riley watched quietly as the rest of the group chatted amongst themselves. She had just decided to approach two girls she knew fairly well when she heard something. Incredibly faint, a normal human wouldn't have been able to perceive it. She immediately stopped in her tracks and concentrated. She heard it again; a very weak, but unmistakable sound of padded feet on leaves.

Riley attempted to listen further, but was interrupted by Mrs. Charming, "Ms. Stynn? Are you alright?"

Doing her best not to snap at her teacher, Riley turned and said, "I'm trying to listen."

"Listen? To what?" Mrs. Charming inquired.

The Faunus subdued a growl and managed, "I don't know. That's why I'm listening."

She turned away, but not before she saw Mrs. Charming purse her lips. Riley closed her eyes and tried focus on the sound before the teacher spoke again. After a brief pause she found it and froze when she did. Riley managed to hear a single footfall _and_ a ragged breath. One she'd heard many times before in her village.

"Ms. Stynn are you even-"

"Beowolf, fifty meters out."

Mrs. Charming was instantly alert, "Are you sure?"

"Positive," Riley replied, "I heard it breath. I don't know if there are any more though."

"Thank you for informing me. I will keep an ear open, but I doubt it will attack. Even in packs, Beowolves tend to stay away from-"

Riley barely had time to allow her eyes to widen as a massive figure erupted from the tree line. Wickedly sharp claws adorned its paws and a white, skull-like shape resided over the creatures wolf-like face. Piercing red eyes bore nothing but malice at their target and its humanoid form was quite imposing despite, its lanky build. Its presence was only temporary as Mrs. Charming immediately turned on it. She threw out her arms and two chains flew from her sleeves. They impaled the beowolf through its shoulders allowing Mrs. Charming to whip her hands back and toss it through multiple trees.

By now the other students were aware of the attack and Riley could tell some of them were hesitating. Mrs. Charming turned to them and called out, "Stay behind me! Don't run and don't try to attack!"

Three more beasts darted from the forest, but were quickly felled by Mrs. Charming's chains. Riley watched, impressed by her teacher's fighting ability. She knew Signal teachers were competent in battle, considering they were entrusted to train successive generations of Huntsmen this was to be expected, but this was the first time she'd seen one in serious action. She felt herself smile as her teacher seemed to effortlessly keep up with the growing numbers of beowolves. Unfortunately that did not last. As she skewered another monster, Riley saw something. An even larger black shape exploded from the trees next to the group. Identical to the other beowolves in aesthetics only, this monstrosity was easily twice the size. Time seemed to slow as Riley watched the Alpha beowolf descended upon them. All of her muscles froze as she looked on, her body unwilling to react to her brain's command to evade. Just as it was upon her, another figure filled her vision. The beowolf brought its ghastly claws down and they cut through the torso of Mrs. Charming.

Time returned to normal as Riley registered what had happened. Mrs. Charming stood still for a moment, but then faltered as her aura flickered and faded. She then fell forward onto the ground, unmoving and barely breathing. Riley felt, for just a brief instance, a pang of remorse. Her failure to act had brought death knocking to Mrs. Charming's door. The feeling quickly turned to one of shock. The protective force found in all humans and faunus, an extension of the soul that Huntsmen utilized to shield themselves from danger, was depleted with a single strike. Then came the anger.

As the Alpha reared back to finish off his prey, anger welled up inside Riley's heart. Riley was not going to let her teacher answer Death's call. Letting out a low growl, she reached into her backpack and ripped out a small object, holding on to the base, she threw her arm out and the item began to unfold. As it snapped into position, six strings materialized from the top of the neck and stretched down to the bottom of the head. She gripped the iron guitar and immediately strummed a chord. A violent shock wave burst from the front of the guitar and destruction followed. Trees were bent in half for close to twenty meters and the ground was torn asunder, dirt and debris tossed into the air like confetti. A few beowolves were blown away, but the Alpha stubbornly managed to hold its ground. Riley turned to the others and shouted, "Get out of here! Go get help! I'll hold this thing off!"

There was no hesitation as the students bolted away. Riley turned back and glared into the beast's red eyes and snarled, "Bring it…"

The beowolf seemed to snicker at her comment and released an ear splitting howl. Within seconds, dozens more of the lesser creatures moved into view. Riley blinked, stunned by the volume of the pack. How could so many Grimm live on Patch without drawing attention from the staff? There was no way a mission out into the field would have been sanctioned if they had known the severity of the Grimm population growth.

Riley's contemplations were rudely disturbed as a beowolf lunged at her. She quickly brought the guitar to bear and hit a button toward the top of the neck. A razor sharp blade popped out of the lining around the head and Riley swung as hard as she could. The guitar impacted the beowolf's midsection and promptly split it in two. She expertly allowed the follow through the attack to propel her into a spiral. As her twirl began, she kicked off the ground with her back foot and flew at another beowolf. It failed to respond in time and was minced by Riley's guitar. Finished with her first attack, she came to a sliding stop. She jumped back in front of Mrs. Charming and faced the Alpha again.

It growled and took a step forward. Riley took a deep breath and prepared for the Alpha to make its move. The beast crouched, readying itself to pounce. Everything was still for a moment. Nothing moved as the two watched each other. Then the Alpha lunged…and got not more than five feet off the ground. Something whizzed past Riley's head and the resulting gust picked up Riley's blue hair and tossed it about. It hit the Alpha in the shoulder and sent it sprawling into the woods. For one second as it slammed into the creature, Riley caught a glimpse of what it was: a silver disc. As quickly as it had appeared, it flew back past her head. Not a second later, someone flashed into view in front of her.

The man was tall, easily a head taller than Riley, and lean. From behind she could see he wore an ankle length, brown duster and boots. Russet gloves with oversized cuffs sat snuggly on his hands and in each one he held one of those disks. Now able to see them more clearly, she realized they were in fact chakram. Gold runes resided around each of the weapons blades. Riley looked up at him as he turned and said, "You alright?"

Riley paused before answering. Golden eyes peered down on her. As she gazed back into them she felt something she hadn't felt since she'd left home. Safety. Security. Confidence. Blinking her eyes to break his stare, she finally replied, "I'm fine."

He grinned widely and said, "Good. Now just sit back and let us handle this."

"Us"?" Riley asked, confused.

As if in response, three other people dropped from the trees. The first was a stunningly beautiful woman. Long, blood red hair stretched down past her shoulder blades. Golden armor (Riley was pretty sure it was of Mistral design) covered her lily white skin and two curved blades rested on her back. Green eyes glared in irritation at the man, "Westley! Why do you always have to be so reckless?! Bolting off into the middle of a pack of beowolves without the rest of us is incredibly irresponsible!"

The man named Westley chuckled, "Cool your jets Pelyope; it's just a couple of beowolves. Nothing I can't handle on my own."

This warranted a deep frown from Pelyope, "You're going to get yourself hurt…"

Turning back to the beowolf horde, Westley said, "Careful Pel, you might give me the impression you care about my wellbeing. Now shush up and let's get to work shall we?"

Another man moved up behind Pelyope, "Yeah. Enough chatter. Let's show these wolves who the real animals are…"

This man was huge. At least a foot taller than Westley, he had a thin frame. A black leather jacket covered his chest and navy blue jeans his legs. Red eyes sat centered on his chiseled face and had equal parts excitement and fury emanating from them. Riley also noted the two gray wolf ears nestled in a mop of black hair. As her gaze scrutinized his person, she found he wore two golden gauntlets, each home to wickedly sharp claws.

A hand was placed firmly on the man's shoulder by the final member of the group. With a slight chuckle, he said, "Don't get too excited Ruruki. Remember the warehouse you torched? Don't want a repeat here in this forest."

The last man was Westley's height, but had a more toned musculature. He wore a sleeveless vest and baggy cargo pants. On each arm was a single bracer with a small disk situated in the center. They also, toward the wrist, had what looked like steel knuckles folded backward.

In response, Ruruki simply grinned deviously. A howl broke the nonchalant atmosphere and everyone turned to the source. The Alpha had obviously recovered from the surprise attack and was furious. The four instantly formed a line in front of Riley. The Faunus looked on in shock. There was no way they could take on that many beowolves alone. She began to protest their action, but was cut off by Westley, "You've done good newbie. Let the big leagues take care of this."

As he finished his sentence Ruruki bolted forward. He brought his arm back and let out an excited howl. The tips of each claw on his gauntlets began to glow white hot. Ruruki threw his arms down and ten massive arcs of fire tore through the beowolves' ranks. The monsters scattered in response, but rallied behind the Alpha in short order. That didn't slow the four down at all, however. The man with the bracers flicked his wrists and the knuckles flipped forward, locking into place over his hands. As they did so, the disks on his bracers fanned out and formed two dense shields. Four beowolves rushed him. They leapt into the air and lashed out with their claws. The man fluidly weaved between the attacks, deflecting each strike with one of his shields.

As the beowolves ricocheted off his defenses, he firmly planted a foot on the ground. He brought his arm back, his hand balled into a fist, and let it rocket forward. As his punch reached its apex, Riley saw the air begin to displace around his fist. Immediately after his arm finished its motion, a violent surge of wind tore through the monsters. Riley looked on in awe at the destructive force it yielded. It ripped apart ten beowolves and splintered a tree almost a hundred feet away. A blur motion in Riley's peripheral vision distracted her. Pelyope had removed the blades from her back and had begun cutting swathes through numerous beowolves.

In a flourish of swings and twirls, Pelyope felled almost a dozen of the beasts in rapid succession. Riley was almost too distracted by her movements to realize what the warrior had done. She had corralled the remaining twelve or so creatures into a tight group. She twirled her swords in circles and then slammed the hilts together. There was a low glow as the swords fused. The tips of each blade began to sparkle with a dull light and a thin strand of Dust formed between the two points. She delicately took hold of the thread and pulled slowly. As she did so, something started to form; it was an arrow. A striking blue in color, faint wisps of energy billowed off the shaft. Pelyope took a deep breath and then released her fingers. Immediately after Pelyope fired, Riley saw the warrior's eyes briefly flash silver.

An orb of green and silver swirls appeared in front to of the arrow. The tip of the arrow hit the orb and vanished into it. There was a small pause. Then, quite suddenly, six more orbs formed in a hodgepodge formation around the beowolves. The arrow exited one of them. It pierced through one beowolf and entered another orb. It then tore from a second orb and hit another beowolf before escaping into yet another sphere. This process continued for a few seconds and each time the arrow appeared it went faster and faster until it was only a blur. The Arrow's speed tossed up dirt as it went, obscuring the creatures it was destroying. As the dust and dirt finally settled, Riley looked on in amazement. The beowolves had been reduced to nothing but mangled corpses.

Riley felt a rush of relief flow through her. She was about to speak up when a single piercing howl reminded her that the battle was not yet over; the Alpha was still alive. She turned her attention to it and saw Westley dodge out of the way of an attack. He pitched his chakram at it, but, aside from a superficial scratch, they did nothing but bounce off its hide. Westley laughed a little and said, "You're making me look bad in front of the ladies! You should help me out and die already!"

The Alpha simply snarled in response. Westley shrugged, "Oh well. Guess I just have to pick up the pace then!"

He brought one of his chakram back and threw it again. This time, however, the glyphs began to flow red. The beowolf obviously didn't notice the change because it just stood in the path of the disc. Big mistake. The disc hit it in the arm and the monster was engulfed in an explosion that rocked the ground under Riley. The black shape dodged from the plume of smoke, its arm a mangled mess of flesh and bone. It quickly reorganized and lunged at Westley. The man easily parried and swung his arm around, catching the Alpha with another blow. A second explosion sent the Alpha into a nearby tree. It fell to the ground, dazed. Shaking its matted head it looked up as Westley approached. It growled defiantly and bared its teeth. Westley raised his hand, ready to decapitate it, but his chakram only grazed the beast's eye. A hidden beowolf burst from the treeline and lunged at the hunter. Westley redirected his attention flawlessly and felled it, but the distraction allowed the Alpha to jump to its feet and dash into the shadows of the woods.

Westley scowled and growled, "Damn it. It got away…"

He brushed his hand through his thick brown hair and then turned, his face home to a wide grin now.

"Still okay?" he asked.

It took a moment to register that someone was talking to her. Finally she blinked herself out of her stupor and responded, "Um…yeah…I'm…yeah…"

Riley felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and saw Pelyope smiling at her. Her voice had a surprisingly calming effect to it as she said, "You're safe now. Help will be here shortly."

Riley nodded, "Thanks."

Pelyope went to speak, but was cut off by Westley, "As much as I would _love_ to stay and chat, we need to be gone before everyone else shows. Ozpin wants to stay on the down low for the time being, remember?"

The man with the bracers nodded, "Indeed. We should make our way back to Beacon."

Riley froze, her mind suddenly racing. _Beacon? Are these guys really students from Beacon?_

Riley knew she was good, like really good compared to most of her other classmates. Mrs. Charming had even said that her combat skills were the only reason she was still at Signal. But these guys, only a year or so ahead of her, were so far beyond her in prowess and training she could hardly fathom the gap. Her curiosity quickly welled to the surface and she went to speak, but found all four had disappeared from view. Riley immediately looked around for any indication as to which direction they had gone in. Perking her ears, she strained to hear something. After a moment, she heard a number of footsteps making their way toward her. Second later a yellow blur exploded out of the woods opposite the beowolves. It came to a screeching halt in front of her, "Riley!"

Riley let out a disappointed sigh. With the rush of people that was sure to follow the new arrival, there was no way she was going to catch up with them now. She sluggishly straightened herself out and said, "I'm fine Yang. Just a little rattled. Mrs. Charming is much worse condition than-."

She turned to look at her teacher and was surprised to find that the bleeding had stopped and the wounds were much less severe than they originally were. It must have been one of those four. Yang looked from Riley to Mrs. Charming to the beowolves and then back to Riley, "What in the heck happened?! The rest of the teachers are-"

She turned around and realized no one was behind her, "Oops…must have gotten ahead of them. But they can't be too far behind."

Riley sighed again and then slowly recounted the ordeal all the way from when the beowolves showed up until the four's departure. As she finished, Yang said simply, "Whoa…"

"Yeah," Riley answered. After a moment of quiet she turned away from Yang and continued, "Well. You'll be glad about one thing that came out of this."

As Yang gave Riley a questioning look, Riley noticed a large group of teachers emerge from where Yang had. They immediately began fanning out over the area, probably making sure there were no other beowolves or any injured students. Before they reached the two of them, Riley turned her attention the small looking cliffs far off in the distance on the other side of Vytal. She could just barely make out a small, castle-like structure on them. A new found flame a light inside her, she gazed determinedly at the building and said, "I'm going to Beacon."


	2. Chapter 2

Author Foreword:

I probably should have put this in chapter 1, but whatevs! To anyone interested in this story, I'll be updating it every Wednesday or Thursday.

That's about it for now!

Thanks for reading and enjoy!

Chapter 2

The airship buckled as it rolled over top of a pocket of turbulence. Yang sighed, clearly uncomfortable. Riley noticed and chuckled, "Don't like flying?"

"Flying?" Yang answered, "No, I love flying. I don't like doing it in a cooped up tin can. I prefer…skydiving."

Yang's previous expression of discomfort was quickly overtaken by a wide grin. Riley rolled her eyes and smiled slightly. Yang suddenly threw her arm around the Faunus's neck. Giving Riley a squeeze she exclaimed, "Can you believe it?! A year ago you were dead set on not becoming a huntress and now here we are, together, on our way to Beacon!"

"Yeah," Riley said, "A lot has changed since the start of our senior year at Signal."

"I'm just so glad that one of my best friends is going to be here with me! And to add whip cream to this already awesome sundae, my little sister made it in too!"

Riley nodded, "That's right. I heard something about that. Didn't she stop a robbery or something?"

"Yep! All by herself! I'm so proud! Oh! And speak of the devil!"

With that, Yang quickly detached herself from Riley and rushed through the crowd. She almost tackled a young girl in her enthusiasm. Riley had met Ruby Rose a few times over the course of her friendship with Yang and she liked her. She was pleasant and a nice contrast to her Yang. Riley could tell from Ruby's face that she was uncomfortable. Whether it was because her sister was drawing the attention of everyone on the deck or because of something else, Riley wasn't sure. She banked on a little bit of both.

A newscast on the holo panel next to her stole her attention, "The robbery was led by nefarious criminal Roman Torchwick, who continues to evade authorities. If you have any information on his whereabouts, please contact the Vale Police Department. Back to you Lisa."

Lisa Lavender, a popular news reporter for the Vale News Network, appeared on the screen, "Thank you, Cyril. In other news, this Saturday's Faunus Civil Rights protest turned dark when members of the White Fang disrupted the ceremony. The once peaceful organization has now disrupted..."

Before Lisa could finish her sentence, the screen wavered and was replaced by a holographic image of a prestigious looking, middle aged woman. Blonde hair was tied into a messy bun and oval glasses covered lime green eyes. A white long-sleeved, pleated top that had a wide keyhole neckline covered pale skin and gauntlet cuffs that flared in pleats at the wrist capped the end of her sleeves. The woman wore black boots with bronze heels, and a cape that was purple on the inside and black on the outside. She looked out at the crowd as if she could see every student and began her speech, "Hello, and welcome to Beacon! My name is Glynda Goodwitch. You are among a privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy! Our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future Huntsmen and Huntresses, it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world."

And as quickly as she came, her image disappeared. A voice behind her made her jump, "Glynda Goodwitch…wow…She sounds as strong as I imagined. She's a legend in the huntress community you know?"

Riley turned, surprised, and found a young woman smiling at her. It wasn't often someone was able to sneak up on her. Between her hearing and sense of smell, Riley almost always knew who was around her. As she focused on the girl before her, Riley realized that not only had she not sensed her moving up behind her, she hadn't sensed the girl since they'd been on the airship. Over the course of the trip to Beacon, Riley had cataloged each and every single person's scent so that she could keep tabs on her surroundings. This girl's scent was only just registering in Riley's nose.

The girl was slightly shorter than Riley, only half an inch or so, and was thin. Curly locks of raven hair encompassed her head and contrasted enchantingly with her white skin. A silver blouse with red trim covered her chest and was tucked neatly into a black skirt that was being held in place by an ornate belt. A solitary ring with an onyx gem resided on her ring finger on her right hand. Over all, she was very pretty, but the trait that grabbed Riley's interest most was the girl's eyes. Opalescent spheres gazed right through the Faunus. Riley found it odd that a person with impaired vision was enrolling to a school where you learned to fight monsters.

Riley quickly subdued her curiosity for fear of accidentally insulting the stranger. The girl continued to smile as she said, "It's alright to speak, you know. I don't mind if you comment about my sight."

"What?" Riley stammered, caught off guard by the polite mannerism, "I wasn't- I mean I wouldn't- I mean-"

The girl laughed, "Calm down! It's fine! How about we exchange names before you tie your tongue into a knot?"

Riley nodded, somewhat glad that the girl couldn't see the irritated look on the Faunus's face. Riley hated getting flustered. Especially when she knew she shouldn't be. Taking a deep breath to calm down, Riley said, "Name's Riley."

"Nice to make your acquaintance Riley," the girl replied, "My name is Oswin. Oswin Osprey."

Riley nodded, "Nice to meet you too Oswin."

Before Riley could say anything else a flood of students quickly pushed past her trying to get to the window. Riley growled in aggravation as she stumbled forward. She went to right herself, but was suddenly hit by someone else who was attempting to get past her. The Faunus lost her footing. As she fell toward the ground, she saw a body fluidly move through the crowd to intercept her. Riley was caught and turned upright by Oswin. Riley looked at her, somewhat startled by how easily Oswin managed to dodge everyone.

"How did you…?"

Oswin smiled slightly at Riley and said, "Just because my eyes don't work doesn't mean I can't see."

Riley raised an eyebrow, surprised by the confident comment. She attempted to respond, but was cut off by loud voice, "OSWIN! HOLY CRAP! WHERE ARE YOU?! YOU HAVE TO SEE BEACON! IT LOOKS _AMAZING_! LOOK AT HOW BIG IT IS! OH MY GOD WE'RE DOCKING! AHHHH!"

As Riley and Oswin turned, Riley heard Oswin chuckle under her breath, "Oh Krystal…"

Riley saw a girl with a pink bob bouncing next to the window. Enthusiastically. At the rate the girl was going, Riley was worried she might cause the ship to roll over. Oswin apparently thought so as well as she said, with a sigh that indicated a lack of enthusiasm, "Please excuse me. I need to go calm my friend before she capsizes us. It was very nice to meet you, Riley."

"Same," Riley nodded as Oswin began making her way through the crowd.

Another person moved up quickly behind Riley, but she caught the movement before he ran into her. She stepped to the side and a man with blond hair stumbled by. It was quite obvious that he was trying not to vomit. Riley chuckled as he nearly fell off the ship when its doors opened. Rolling her eyes, she ebbed her way through the exiting crowd. Stepping onto the platform, she got her first clear look at the building that was going to be her new home for the next four years. Tall spires stretched toward the sky around the central tower. The castle-like structure was incredibly expansive and multiple buildings lead from the main complex. A long, cobbled pathway lead to the academy with the only thing breaking its expanse a circular courtyard. A moment of surrealness overtook Riley. She was finally here. She was standing in front of Beacon Academy and so close to beginning her journey as a huntsman. She smiled proudly to herself and began walking toward the structure in the distance.

Amongst the thinning crowd, Riley saw Yang talking to Ruby. She was about to call out to her when Yang grabbed some of their friends that had graduated with them, bolted over to her, and dragged her away with the group. They were free and clear of the walkway before Yang let her go. Riley shook off her stupor and asked, "Why was I dragged through a crowd of people?"

"Because I needed an exit," Yang beamed, obviously not seeing anything wrong with yanking people around.

The other students rolled their eyes in unison and bid farewell as they departed to figure out where their accommodations were. Riley stayed behind and asked, "Ditching your sister on the first day of school?"

Yang looked at her, shocked, "What? I would never do that! I just didn't want her using me as an anchor! She needs to go out make friends on her own! I'll see her plenty as the year goes on! I'll-"

"You ditched her," Riley said, not buying any of it.

The shocked facade failed immediately and Yang murmured, "Does that make me a bad sister?"

Riley got in her own eye roll as she answered, "No. If I had a clingy sister, I'd do the same thing."

"Well she's not clingy," Yang said, pausing for only a moment to think of something to add, "She's nervous. But that's why I had to leave! She'll never open up if I'm there to be a shield!"

"Uh-huh…." Riley chuckled.

Taking the break in conversation as an excuse to bolt before she was called out on anything else, Yang gave a grin and said, "Well I'll see you later tonight! I'm going to go explore the new stomping ground!"

And with that, she dashed away, disappearing into the now dispersing crowd of students. Riley was getting ready to begin her own trek around the campus when there was a small explosion behind her. She twirled around and say a plume of smoke near where the airships had dropped them off. As it cleared, she saw Ruby standing in a small crater getting yelled at by a proper looking girl with white hair. Riley chuckled. Well Ruby was definitely making an impression. Footsteps behind her distracted her from the scene. Riley turned and saw a girl walking up. She was tall, easily half a foot taller than Riley, and had her black hair cut in a semi-short bob. Her hair had blond highlights streaking through it and hazel eyes rested in the center of a cream colored face. She was wearing a camo short jacket overtop what looked like a white tank top. Dark skinny jeans disappeared into a pair of leather boots. She continued looking past Riley, probably at the scene Ruby had caused and said, "Interesting to see a Schnee attending school at Beacon."

"Schnee?" Riley inquired.

"A member of the Schnee Dust Company," the girl said, "The largest distributor of Dust in the world."

Riley scowled, "I know who the Schnees are, but you're saying that that girl in the white is a Schnee?"

"Weiss Schnee if I'm not mistaken. Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. Kind of figured she'd be attending school in Atlas."

Riley was about to inquire how she knew that, but opted for a more relevant question, "Who are you?"

The girl turned to Riley, obviously confused. It finally seemed to dawn on her that she had yet to introduce herself as she quickly answered, "Oh! So sorry! I'm Gabby. My interest in the heiress got the better of my manners! It's nice to meet you!"

She held out a hand. Riley slowly took it and said, "Same. I think. I'm Riley."

"First year?" Gabby inquired.

"Mhmm," nodded the Faunus, "Actually just got off the airship a little bit ago."

Gabby smiled and said, "Welcome to Beacon then. This is my second year here."

That caught Riley's attention. It'd be nice to know someone who knew their way around the school. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Riley said, "So I take it you know your way around this place then?"

The faunus immediately internally scowled as she realized her failure at trying to be subtle. Gabby laughed and said, "Not sure where to go? You'll get the feel of the land quickly enough. I got lost more times than I could count when I first got here."

She leaned around Riley and pointed down a pathway across the courtyard directly behind her, "That's going to take you right to the dorms."

Switching toward the path behind Gabby herself, she said, "And this way will take you to the cafeteria. Classrooms, labs, and library are in the main building. Which is where you probably want to be here shortly. The introductory speech by professor Ozpin should be starting shortly."

"What?!" Riley exclaimed. She was under the impression the opening ceremony was going to be that evening. She turned on a dime and dashed off. As she did so she gave a wave and shouted, "Thanks Gabby! I'll see you around!"

She briefly caught a glimpse of Gabby smiling and returning the wave. Dashing into the main building, she realized she wasn't completely sure of where she was going. Riley's ears twitched as she tried to listen for some sign of a larger than usual gathering. She saw another large double door similar to the entrance and managed to pick out Yang's voice, "Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot!"

Good. Ozpin hadn't yet begun his speech. She slid around a corner and found herself running straight into someone. She fell backwards and landed hard on her butt. Growling she spat, "Damnit! Watch where you're-"

She stopped short as she looked up and registered who she'd run into. He was a stout, older man with large eyebrows and a very bushy moustache. He was wearing a red dress coat with gold buttons and tight fitting khaki slacks. He bobbed slightly as he said, his voice deep and burly, "Perhaps it should be you who should watch where they're going."

Riley immediately knew this person was a professor. He had that kind of aura about him. Wincing she murmured, "Sorry…."

"Your apology is accepted, Ms…."

"Stynn. Riley Stynn sir."

"I see," he started, "You must be one of the arriving first years. My name is Professor Port."

"Nice to meet you, Professor."

Riley wasn't making eye contact, too embarrassed to do so. Port gave a huff (not an angry one, just a sort of generic huff) and said, "A pleasure to meet you as well Ms. Stynn. I won't keep you any longer. I believe Professor Ozpin should be starting his introductory speech soon. Hurry along, but be mindful of your surroundings."

"Yes sir," Riley stated as she hustled around him.

The rest of the trip to the auditorium saw Riley beating herself up mentally for already potentially getting off on the wrong foot with the staff. She forced herself to stop as she slid through the double doors at the last second. Ozpin had just walked onto the stage and begun speaking, "I'll... keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge - to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you have finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."

As Ozpin sullenly departed the stage, Glynda moved back to the microphone and said, "You will gather in the ballroom tonight; tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed."

Everyone immediately started going their separate ways. Riley watched the back of Ozpin until he rounded a corner and left her view. Something was definitely off about him. Her knowledge of the headmaster was secondhand mostly, but from what she knew he was supposed to be normally focused and conscientious. Deciding it was something she could dwell over later, Riley turned and exited the auditorium with the rest of the students.

Riley shuffled through the crowded ballroom, trying to find a place to set her stuff down so she could sleep. She spied a spot not far away. Moving quickly, she bee lined for it, but someone slid into the spot before her. Irritation welling up, she growled, "Hey, I saw that spot first."

The young man who had stolen the empty place smiled and said, "Sorry, babe. You might have seen it first, but I got to it first."

 _Babe?_ Riley thought, blinking at him.

The urge to dropkick the pretty boy was rapidly growing. He was tall, over six feet and had clean cut brown hair. Just from the first glance over, she knew he was conceited and narcissistic. Before she could muster a response, he started talking again, "The name's Cardin Winchester. What's yours sweet cheeks?"

Urge to dropkick moving to a critical point, Riley focused all her energy on saying, "None of your business….jerk."

She then turned on a dime and moved quickly away to avoid causing a scene. Via her talented ears she could hear him growling and grumbling under his breath; Riley doubted he got shot down in conversation often. Shifting her focus off of Cardin and onto once again finding a spot to lay down, she trudged on. After a minute of looking around, a voice sounded behind her, "Riley? Having trouble finding an open spot?"

Riley jumped out of her skin and twirled around. Someone had snuck up on her. Who on Remnant could have done-? Her posture relaxed some as the obvious answer made itself apparent. It was Oswin. The girl smiled at Riley and said, "I have a spot next to me that I was saving for a friend, but they seemed to have found other sleeping arrangements."

There was no way Riley was passing this opportunity up. Doing her best not to sprint toward the open spot Oswin motioned to, Riley set her things down and promptly plopped to the ground, glad to be laying down. Oswin's slim figured moved into Riley's peripheral as she sat down next to the Faunus. Oswin's hair had been combed straight and she was wearing a white night gown with gold trim. She looked very proper compared to most of the other students, especially Riley who was wearing a faded black tank top and red and blue checkered pajama bottoms.

Before the Faunus could inquire about the elegant attire, a group of roughhousing boys barreled their way. Riley rolled out of the way and looked up to see them continuing forward on a path that was about to send them right into Oswin. Instead of mowing her down, Oswin, while remaining seated, simply bobbed her body back and forth perfectly avoiding their clamoring forms. A shout from the other side of the room ordering them to cut it out caused them to quickly break it off and scatter. Riley crawled back to her spot, glad that none of her things had been damaged and curious as to how Oswin was doing what she did. But again, before she could attempt to appease her curiosity, Riley was once again cut off.

"So how are you liking Beacon?" Oswin asked.

Reigning in her inquisitive nature so as not to be rude, Riley answered, "It's big. I like that. Open spaces are fantastic. It's also a nice change of pace from Signal."

Oswin smiled and agreed, "Indeed. This layout is most comfortable."

After a short pause, the girl inquired, "So you said you went to Signal?"

"Yeah," Riley nodded, "It was fun, but the campus was cramped and we barely got to go out into the forest. Even if we can't go out into the woods daily here, the school is big enough for that not to matter. What about you? I don't think you went to Signal. At least I don't remember your scent."

"Scent?" chuckled Oswin.

Riley rubbed the back of her head, now slightly embarrassed; she forgot that most people weren't aware of how she kept track of them.

"Yeah. I've got a good nose. Like it's probably my best feature. I can remember every smell I smell if I smell it."

"I see," smiled Oswin.

Riley wondered if the irony of that statement was lost on her new friend. Instead of pulling a Yang and commenting on it, she waited for Oswin to make the next move in the conversation. The Faunus didn't have to wait long.

"Well you are correct, by the way. I did not attend Signal. I was privately trained by a huntress associated with my parents."

"Oh cool. Is that how you learned to…..you know."

"See without seeing?" Oswin gave another chuckle.

Riley scowled, irritation at her inability to not dance around Oswin's glaring disability. Noticing, Oswin added, "Riley, it's fine to be blunt. I've been blind my whole life; I've kind of gotten used to it."

She gave a laugh in an effort to solidify her sincerity on the subject. Riley did her best not to wince and nodded. Maintaining her smile, Oswin followed with, "Good. And to answer your question, yes and no. I'd already been working on dealing with my blindness when I came under my teacher's tutelage. She helped me to perfect it."

"And what exactly is 'it'?" Riley inquired.

Oswin opened her mouth and managed to get the word 'well' out before someone shouted, "OSWIN! THIS PLACE IS AWESOME!"

Oswin's normally cheerful demeanor waned slightly as the bellow echoed through the common room. Heads turned as a young girl sprinted through the cluster of people on the ground and came to a screeching halt right in front of the two girls. Riley instantly recognized her as the girl who was jumping enthusiastically on the airship. Oswin's smile returned as she looked up at the newcomer and she said, "Good evening Krystal. I was wondering where you were."

"I was out exploring the school! You have no _idea_ how big it is! It's massive! Gigantic! _Gargantuan!_ Um…...I'm running out of words for big."

Krystal's voice stopped for a moment and her face contorted into one of what Riley could only describe as pain. It was obvious she was trying to think of more synonyms so Riley piped in, "Enormous?"

" _ENORMOUS!_ " Krystal essentially screamed.

She thrust a finger into Riley's face and said, "Thank you!"

The single finger opened into an extended hand as Krystal followed with, "I'm Krystal! Who are you?"

"Riley," the Faunus answered as she took the girl's hand hesitantly.

Big mistake.

The second their hands were interwoven, Krystal shook with the force of a high speed hydraulic press. Krystal's shake lasted for close to a whole minute and Riley found herself hard pressed not to angrily cut it short with a verbal snap; she figured attacking a fellow student, especially one who was acquainted with Oswin, was probably not the best idea on day one. Krystal eventually released and Riley quickly began rubbing her arm back to life. Glancing at Oswin revealed the girl had her eyes closed as if she was attempting to find her own piece of serenity amongst the energetic hurricane that was Krystal.

Looking back and forth between Riley and Oswin, Krystal asked, "So you two know each other?"

The question didn't seem directed at anyone in particular, but Oswin answered first, "Indeed. Riley and I became acquainted on the airship as we approached Beacon."

"Oh cool! Well any friend of Oswin's is a friend of mine! It's nice to meet you!"

Riley managed a forced smile as she said, "Same."

Turning to Oswin, Riley asked, "So how did you two meet?"

Again, Oswin was the one who answered; Riley felt like she was trying to stem how much talking Krystal did, "We've been friends since we were little. We actually trained under the same person."

"That teacher you mentioned, right?"

"Yeps!" Krystal exclaimed.

Oh no, she started talking again.

"Felicia, my older sister!"

Oswin nodded in affirmation. Riley bobbed her head as well. Krystal opened her mouth to say something else, but another girl walked up and tapped Krystal on the shoulder, "Kris, we got the thing set up. You ready to go?"

"It's good to go?! Awesome! Let's do this!"

Riley's gut had a sinking feeling in it as Krystal began to depart. The pink haired girl turned with a large grin on her face and waved, "Talk to you guys later!"

"Stay out of trouble!" Oswin called after her.

Krystal simple laughed and exited the common room.

As she did so, Riley heard Oswin mumble, "Please don't get expelled on the first night…."

"I take it she's a handful?" Riley asked.

Oswin nodded and sighed, "Yes."

She suddenly opened her eyes, a look of regret on her face, as she quickly followed with, "Please don't misunderstand! She and I are really close; I consider her the younger sister I never had. I love spending time with her and being with her. But your statement is not incorrect. Krystal has a certain…..charm about her which takes some people a little bit of time to adjust to. I've had to constantly remind her to keep her wits about her in public. She's quite the trouble magnet."

"I don't doubt it," chuckled Riley, "And I understand completely; I've got a friend a lot like that."

"Oh?"

"Yeah," Riley smiled, "Been friends ever since we met in Signal. In fact-"

The Faunus sniffed the air and quickly pinpointed Yang's position. She turned her head and pointed out the blonde saying, "She's the blonde over there next to the short red head."

She saw Oswin's head turn and her face made a frown, "I think I found her. I unfortunately can't see color with my method of sight. She's wearing the tight tank top and pajama bottoms, correct? Talking to a girl with a book?"

Riley double checked to make sure Oswin had the right person and saw that Yang and Ruby were, in fact, talking to another girl who was reading. She was pretty sure the other girl was less than thrilled to be interrupted. Yang suddenly let out a laugh and went to hug Ruby. Ruby was having none of it and immediately began struggling against her sister's grip. The two were very quickly thrashing and yelling. Riley rolled her eyes, "Case and point…."

Oswin released a small giggle, "She certainly seems lively."

"Oh yeah…." Riley grimaced.

"What in the world is going on over here?! Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?"

Riley looked up at where Yang was and saw the white haired Schnee girl had stormed over and was getting ready to start yelling. When she and Yang recognized who each other were, they both groaned, "Oh, not you again!"

As the entire group's dialogue degraded into babbling and nagging, Riley fell onto her back and said, "I'm going to sleep Oswin. Thanks for the spot."

Oswin followed suit and laid down as well, smiling as she said, "It was no trouble. I believe I'll turn in as well. Tomorrow starts our first real day here at Beacon. If either of us aren't here when the other wakes up, good luck."

Riley rolled on her side to face Oswin and nodded, "Good luck to you too."

Oswin repositioned herself so that she was flat on her back and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and, as she exhaled, murmured, "Goodnight, Riley."

"Night Oswin."

And with that, Riley closed her eyes, quickly falling asleep despite the arguing not far away.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Riley ran through the courtyard, once again finding herself in a rush. She'd overslept by a large margin and had to make it to her destination in less than ten minutes. The first year attendees had been told to come to a cliff on the other side of campus that overlooked the Emerald Forest. While she initially didn't know where she was going, a strong wind blew a familiar scent her way. It was Yang's. She'd locked onto it and been running in its direction as quick as her legs would carry her ever since. Crossing the training field, she found a narrow path that lead into the woods. Dashing along it, she glanced at her scroll and saw five minutes were left. She leapt over a fallen tree and rolled as she touched down. Using the extra momentum, she pushed off the second her feet were level and shot forward. Rounding a corner she had to brake hard as she almost ran into someone. Barely an inch away, Riley's eyes focused on who she'd almost toppled over.

It was a young man with blonde hair. He was tall, sixish feet or so, and gangly. He had a thin breast plate over top of hooded jacket and wore faded jeans that extended over his shoes. He jumped and half screamed, "Ahg!"

Riley reared back as well, "Holy crap!"

While the two of them were gathering their wits, a voice called from behind the man, "Jaune? Are you alright?"

Riley recognized it as Ruby's voice. The girl came around the corner and, when she saw Riley, waved and said, "Hi Riley! We missed you in the locker room this morning."

As Ruby jogged the distance to meet with Riley and Jaune, Riley said, "Yeah. I overslept."

"I guess you could say you slept like a cat, eh, darling?"

Jaune was grinning at Riley, obviously trying to be some middle ground between confident and seductive. It wasn't working. Riley felt an eye twitch coming on and was glad when Ruby yanked on Jaune's hood and whispered, "Jaune, we talked about this on the way up here. Just be yourself. Don't be….whatever it was you just were."

Jaune's shoulders drooped and has muttered back, "Alright…"

Turning to face Riley, head slumped, he held out a hand and said, somewhat depressed, "My name's Jaune. Nice to meet you."

Riley looked at him a moment, debating actually accepting the handshake, but eventually conceded when she saw Ruby motioning for her to do it while she was out of Jaune's view. The Faunus took the outstretched hand, gave it one shake, and then released saying, "I'm Riley."

Taking in a deep breath, a particular scent hit her nose. Cocking her head at Jaune she asked, "Aren't you the kid who threw up on the airship?"

Jaune's shoulders and head slumped even more (a feat Riley didn't think was possible) and he softly cried, "Why does everyone remember me for that?"

Ruby chuckled sympathetically as patted his shoulder, "It's alright, Jaune. It's only your second day. I'm sure by the end of the semester, no one will remember the airship incident at all!"

As she steered him away to continue walking down the path, her somberly murmured, "Maybe…"

Riley rolled her eyes and scoffed slightly under her breath. She didn't think that was likely. Not wanting to be the last person there, she quickly caught up with Ruby and Jaune and they all exited the dense forest together. The cliff was relatively small and a line of square platforms trailed from end to end of it. The rest of the first years were already lined up. Ruby and Jaune took positions at the right end while Riley went left. Yang gave a thumbs up to her as she began looking for a platform not yet down the line to the only available spot left, she passed Krystal and Oswin who were toward the middle. Oswin gave a nod of her head acknowledging the Faunus; Krystal on the other hand waved vigorously at her. Riley stifled a groan and managed a wave back. As she stepped onto her platform, Professor Ozpin, who was on the end near Ruby and Jaune, began speaking, "For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest."

Professor Goodwitch, standing next to Ozpin, then took over, "Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of 'teams'. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today."

This time Riley couldn't hold back her groan. She had indeed heard about the potential team system and had been hoping that it was just a rumor. She didn't typically play well with others. Glancing down the line at a distracted Yang, Riley made a mental note to find her quickly. Before her thoughts could continue, Ozpin started speaking again, "These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years."

Riley heard Ruby suddenly squeal, "What?!"

A few of the other students began whispering, but it was quickly silenced as Ozpin continued, "After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die. You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?"

Riley chuckled to herself. This was more like it. Search for something, find something, take something to an evac.

 _And most importantly_ , Riley thought, _Don't die._

A wide grin snuck across her face as she anticipated the next couple hours. Her grin lessened slightly as Jaune's voice sounded down at the other end, "Yeah, um, sir?"

"Good," Ozpin said, cutting him off, "Now take your positions."

Hearing mechanical whirring under the platform she was on, Riley quickly realized what was coming next. She crouched and readied herself. Jaune began asking another question, but Riley didn't get a chance to hear it. The board beneath her shot up and launched her into the air at high speeds.

* * *

A figure darted through the air, high over the forest canopy. As he reached the apex of his initial jump and began rapidly descending, he outstretched both his arms like they were wings. He angled himself down and then used his extended arms to twist his body into a spinning motion. Picking up speed in the spin, he moved his arms over head as if he were preparing to dive into water. When his arms were in position, he tapped his wrists together. The metal bands that he was wearing rapidly expanded and unfolded forming two seven barrel rotary cannons. A thin pole ejected from the side of each cannon and folded at a ninety degree angle fitting neatly into the palm of the man's hands. Putting pressure on the pole, the cannons began rotating at high speed. When the maximum speed had been achieved, the cannons fired.

A hail of spiralling bullets tore through the foliage beneath him and he dove into the woods flawlessly. The constant recoil from the weapons, while not having any effect on his muscular arms, push back on his entire body slowing his descent to a degree. When he breached the thickest part of the trees he let up on the triggers. The bullets stopped immediately, as did the rotation of the cannons, and he swung his arms down to send him into a flip. inches from the ground he ended his flip and touched down. The force of the impact sent out a wave of pressure that flattened the grass around him and splintered some of the fallen debris.

Standing, he gave a smile, impressed with how well his landing went.

"Rigil, once again you impress even yourself."

Rigil Fairweather took a moment to look around and get his bearings. When he he'd been falling he'd seen a clearing with what looked like some sort of ruins. It was a couple miles north of where he'd landed and he figured it was as good a place to start as any. Stretching real fast to make sure he was limber, Rigil started out toward the ruins. As he made his way along he thought back to what Ozpin had said about the first person he met becoming his partner. He hoped whoever it was was competent. He did not look forward to having to carry someone four years through Beacon. He had neither the time nor the patience.

Rigil had been walking for close to twenty minutes and was finding it strange that he hadn't run into anyone yet. There were at least twenty of his peers spread throughout the woods and they should have been relatively clumped together despite the delay between their departure from the cliff. The only sign of any activity was the occasional tremor. He figured other students had encountered combat. His thoughts were interrupted by a nearby rustling. Rigil came to a stop and turned to the source, "Hello? Friend or foe?"

In response a large figure barrelled out at him from some shrubbery. Rigil backflipped back a few meters to put some distance between him and his attacker. Righting himself, he assessed what was in front of him. It had two, clawed legs attached to a bulky, reptilian body. The body was clad in a white, bony substance and had no eyes. At the front a large maw hung slightly open. Rigil recognized it as a creature of Grimm called a creeper. Grinning he commented, "Good. I thought I was going to be disappointed by a lack of a fight."

The hunter-in-training punched both of his arms outward and his wrist mounted rotary cannons unfolded into attack mode. Leveling them at the Grimm, Rigil said, "Alright Galeforce, let's show him what we can do."

Rigil thumbed the trigger and sent a volley of rounds at the creature. It nimbly dodged to Rigil's left and the hail of bullets tore apart the trees where it once was. Rigil didn't let up on the trigger as he followed the creeper with his outstretched hands. He almost had it pinned down when movement in her right peripheral made him stop. A second creeper made its appearance known close to Rigil's side. Another grin crossed his face as he said, "Clever girl."

The second creeper lunged at him, but was met with a roundhouse kick. The blow sent the creeper flying through the woods and Rigil followed through by bringing his foot down, planting it, and pivoting his body so that he was facing the other creeper who was attempting to flank him. The creeper, who was in mid charge, had too much momentum to stop in time and moved right into Rigil's attack. Rigil lifted his leg straight into the air and drop kicked the creeper into the ground.

"That all you guys got?" Rigil chuckled.

He aimed his left arm at the stunned creeper and prepared to end it. A second movement made him twirl around. A third creeper exploded from the brush behind him and he barely had time to cross his arms in front of him to block the attack. The force of the attack sent him skidding backwards. He managed to remain upright, but the creeper he'd kicked away broke through the bushes nearby and knocked him off balance. He tumbled off to the side and tried to regain his footing. He threw out his arm in an attempt to counterbalance his body and suddenly felt a strong pressure encompass it. Looking over he saw the previously stunned creeper had bitten down on his entire arm almost up to his shoulder. As it gnawed on him the other two circled around in front of him and a fourth creeper emerged behind them.

"Four of you, eh?" Rigil half chuckled, "And you."

Rigil shifted his focus to the one chewing on his arm and asked, "You enjoying yourself? Well my arm was the last thing you wanted to swallow. I tend to give a pretty bad case of indigestion."

The sound of gunfire was muffled only briefly before the back half of the creeper exploded. Rigil threw his arm down and cast off what remained of the creeper. It rapidly evaporated into black mist and dissipated into the air. Rigil rolled his shoulder and then brought his arms up in front of his torso ready to fight.

"You want some of this?! Come on!" Rigil challenged.

His taunt was met with an almost eager acceptance as the creepers charged at him, all hissing loudly. They leaped into the air in front of him and Rigil readied his opening volley,but he never got the chance to do it. What sounded like a single gunshot rang out and all three remaining creepers exploded into darkness. Rigil blinked. While he'd only heard one shot, a separate bullet passed through each individual Grimm. Either there were three perfectly synced shooters nearby or one person fired three rounds in such rapid succession that the multiple gunshots blurred into one. He wasn't sure which was more impressive.

He called out to try and locate the persons or person who helped him, "Hey! Who's there?"

There wasn't a response at first. He called a few more times with similar results and was about to call it quits before a small form moved into view. It was a girl. She was a good head and a half shorter than him (he stood at 6'2") and had long, curly, blonde hair. Her pale skin was a shade or two lighter than the silver blouse she wore. The blouse was tucked into a black skirt that stopped at her knees. It was held around her waist with a dark leather belt which was fastened by an intricate buckle in the shape of a crescent moon fused with an upside down star. Knee high socks stretched from inside a pair of black shoes. As she smiled at him he realized that her eyes were a pale white; she was blind.

Releasing a sigh he grumbled to himself, "Great. The first person I meet is a blind chick."

"Oh?" started the girl, "You think my blindness unfortunate? Perhaps next time I should allow you to handle Grimm by yourself."

Rigil raised an eyebrow, "Wait. _You're_ the one who took out those creepers?"

The girl nodded, "Mhmm."

Mood shifting from exasperated depression to avid curiosity, Rigil leaned in to examine her and stated, "Well color me intrigued. How'd you do it? And why did you wait so long to show yourself?"

The girl cocked her head as if the answer were obvious, "With my gun obviously."

She reached behind her and unclipped what was soon revealed to be a rifle. The metal barrel, stock, handle, and scope were all connected flawlessly giving the appearance that it was one solid piece of steel. As she flipped the safety off, six diamond shaped protrusions ejected into the air and began circling the barrel as if they were in orbit. The girl smiled, "You seem surprised."

She was right. Rigil's mouth had dropped open when she pulled her weapon; part in shock from how advanced it looked, part because of the type of weapon it was. Standing erect again, he slapped his hand to his forehead and groaned, "You've got to be kidding me. The blind girl is a sniper?"

"This blind girl has a name," she answered, smiling some, "It's Oswin. And my being a sniper is why it took so long for me to respond. I had to make my way here. Perhaps you'd like to take a moment to collect yourself before giving me your name in return. Wouldn't want you to trip on your tongue and hurt yourself."

"Wow," laughed Rigil, "Passive sassiness. Didn't think that was a thing."

"Nothing passive about it."

Grinning, Rigil held out a hand and stated, "First name Rigil, last name Fairweather. And I take back what I said earlier. You may be blind but at least you know how to talk. You might know how to walk the walk as well."

Taking his hand and giving it a small squeeze, Oswin frowned slightly and asked, "Was my defeating those Grimm not indication enough?"

"Could have been a fluke," Rigil shrugged trying to play the actually impressive feat as less than what it was, "Or someone else. I'll need to see you up close and in person to make any judgments."

"You do realize that my preferred method of fighting doesn't normally leave me in visual range, correct?"

"Well I can't just partner up with someone if I don't know they can handle themselves in a fight."

Oswin gave a roll of her eyes, something that surprised Rigil considering Oswin's blind nature, and stated, "According to the headmaster you don't really have much choice. We're stuck with each other for the next four years whether you like it or not. But if it makes you feel any better…"

With one fluid motion, Oswin raised her rifle into the air and fired once. Wind erupted around the area, shaking the trees and bushes nearby. Not five seconds later two birds fell through the trees and flopped to the ground in front of Rigil. The huntsman-in-training gave an impressed look, "Okay. That was pretty good. If you manage to live through this I might not mind keeping you on as my partner."

Before Oswin could give a response, Rigil turned on his heels and began walking away. Oswin caught up with him relatively quickly. Rigil noted how easily she traversed through the brush and foliage; it was uncanny considering her disability. He decided not to ask about it quite yet and chose to inquire, "So any idea which way we're supposed to be going?"

Oswin smiled again, amused that Rigil was asking a blind girl for directions in a dense forest. She shook her head, "Unfortunately not. I'm not familiar with the forest. I'm also blind so that doesn't help much."

Rigil chuckled, "Well I saw some ruins a little ways north of here. I was on my way there when I ran into you. Might as well start there."

Nodding Oswin responded, "That sounds like a plan."

And so the two set off.

The woods were quiet as they walked. No birds or small woodland creatures moved about despite it being midday. The heat wasn't bad, in fact it was rather temperate. Sunlight occasionally broke through the canopy, but for the most part the two were shaded during their travels. They eventually stopped for a moment to rest. The walk hadn't been difficult, but they didn't want to tire themselves out in case they were attacked. Oswin and Rigil had been sitting for about five minutes when Oswin stated casually, "We have company."

Rigil sprang to his feet, weapons at the ready, but relaxed some when he realized it was other students. The one in front had a prim and proper hair cut and square face. He was wearing a brown shirt with a gray breastplate over it with a gold eagle emblem embedded on the front. He was wearing jeans and boots and was holding a large black mace. Rigil recognized him immediately.

"Cardin!"

He gave a laugh and moved over to give him a hug. He threw his arms around the newcomer and patted his back. The other man reciprocate the gesture in kind and chuckled, "Rigil! It's good to see you haven't died yet. I've got a lot of money riding on you living through initiation with the guys back home."

"Cardin Winchester. Are you actually betting _for_ me?" Rigil inquired cheerfully.

"Yeah. Figured I'd switch things up."

Rigil gave another laugh and then focused on the three men behind him; Rigil didn't recognize any of them. The one closest to Cardin had blue eyes and long, combed back, dark blue hair. He wore dark gray armor with light gray edges, as well as vambraces of the same style. Underneath his armor, he was wearing a black, long-sleeved V-neck shirt and black pants. Behind him stood a young man with light-brown hair that was combed to the left. His eyes were in a very noticeable squint, though Rigil couldn't figure out a valid reason. He was outfitted with tan-colored armor and a belt that bore a dove on its buckle. He was also wearing vambraces on his arms that were of the same color scheme as the rest of his armor. Underneath the armor, he sported a black shirt and black pants with a black scarf around his neck. Finally was a slim boy of average height. He stood at roughly the same height as all of his fellows except for Cardin Winchester (who was a couple inches taller than them). His head was shaved with a light-green mohawk on the top of it. He wore a hoodie with the sleeves cut off and two bracers on his arms that extended from the wrist to just below the elbow. Beneath the hoodie, he was wearing a pale-green, long-sleeved shirt. He wore a brown strap around his chest holding a spiked spaulder to his left shoulder as well as dark-gray pants. His boots were made of a thick brown material and went up to his knees.

Cardin seemed to notice Rigil eyeing the others and introduced them in order, "The guy behind me is Sky Lark. He's going to be my partner while we're at Beacon. Those other two are Dove and Russel. Sky and I met them at the ruins with the relics. We figured we'd stick together until we were out of here. Have a better chance at fighting off Grimm and making it to where we're supposed to get to."

That middle part caught Rigil's attention, "The relic is at the ruins?"

" _Relics_ ," Cardin corrected, "They are a whole bunch of chess pieces or something. We all grabbed a black Bishop."

"Interesting," mumbled Oswin.

Cardin peaked around Rigil, finally aware of Oswin's presence. He looked her over and frowned, "Darn. Stuck with the blind chick, huh?"

Rigil looked back at Oswin and shrugged, "She's not too bad. Surprisingly good in a fight. And not too shabby at conversation."

"She's also easy on the eyes," chuckled Sky lowly from behind Cardin.

Sky jumped as Oswin suddenly addressed him, "Thank you for the complement, Sky. And gentlemen do realize I am standing right in front of you. I may be blind, but I'm not deaf."

As Sky reeled at the unexpected comment, Cardin gave a small laugh, "I see what you mean, Rigil."

Rigil nodded, seemingly proud of his partner, and asked, "So how far away are the ruins. I figured they'd be close, but I didn't want to get my hopes up."

The other boy shook his head, "Nah man. They're not too far away. Ten maybe fifteen minute walk back the way we came."

"Awesome. Almost done. Was starting to worry that we were going in the wrong direction," Rigil beamed.

Cardin gave a nod and then asked, "Did you want us to tag along? Six of us could do some serious damage to any Grimm that get in our way."

Giving a shake of his head, Rigil answered with a grin, "Not a chance. I've got 100 lien that you flunk out in the initiation. No way I'm helping you."

"Come on guys," Cardin laughed, turning away from Rigil, "Let's go."

As he moved past him, Cardin patted Rigil on the shoulder. Oswin was paid no mind by any of the departing boys and remained silent until they had left. Turning to the smiling Rigil she inquired, "I take it you two are friends?"

Rigil looked at her and nodded, "Yeah. Cardin and I grew up together. Our families have been friends for years."

"I see," answered Oswin simply.

That made Rigil's smile fade some, "Is there a problem?"

Something had sounded off when she'd spoken. As if she suddenly thought less of him. He didn't know if Oswin had intended for her statement to come off as such or if that subtext was actually there, but he was almost certain he'd heard something and he was going to address it if it _was_ actually there. Oswin looked at him a moment and, just as she seemed like she was preparing to answer, a high pitched scream tore through the forest.

"AHHHHHHH!"

Rigil looked up and said, "Sounds like some chick is about to bite it."

Oswin seemed to ponder on something a moment before responding, "I don't believe that was a girl…"

Rigil shrugged, still trying to see into the sky through the thick canopy. He only looked back down when he heard, "And there's no problem. We should pick up our pace. We don't want to be the last ones to arrive."

With that Oswin began walking in the direction Cardin's group had come from. Rigil stared after her briefly. Despite what she'd said he knew something was wrong. He didn't know what was eating at her, but he knew there was something. Unfortunately Oswin was right; they had to push on. Now wasn't the time to stand still and chit chat. Taking a deep breath to refocus, Rigil broke out into a jog to catch up with his partner. Beneath his feet another tremor shook, more violent this time. Things seemed to be heating up now for his peers. Perhaps soon, if he were lucky, he would be facing his own heat soon enough.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Conversation had been minimal between the two as Rigil and Oswin continued their walk. Oswin had taken the lead and Rigil trailed along behind her, still somewhat pondering what had caused her mood to change. He was so focused on his thoughts, he almost walked straight into Oswin. He noticed her form just in time and slammed on the breaks, digging in his heels and stopping himself from running her over. A little irritated at her stopping, he snapped, "Oswin! What gives? I almost ran into you."

"Apologies," she murmured, "I was just taking in the damage to the area around us. It's quite extraordinary."

Rigil was about to question what she was talking about, but a glance around his person revealed a tremendous sight. He'd been so distracted he had failed to notice that the thick trees that had just moments ago surrounded him were now overturned and splintered. The ground had been torn apart as if something huge had come barreling through. His gaze following the trail of destruction, he quickly discerned distinct signs of combat. A dozen meters or so ahead of him and Oswin was a large trail of humongous ice shards. Beyond that were a plethora of large black feathers that led toward a semicircle of weathered columns. There seemed to be a number of erect pedestals within the structure.

"What happened here?" he pondered aloud.

As he was in the middle of processing potential explanations, Oswin's concerned voice snapped him back to the now.

"Boarbatusk incoming!"

The girl twirled around on the spot and jumped backwards, unslinging her rifle in the process, landing a few meters away. Rigil flicked his arms and the poles snaked out of his sleeves and folded into his hands. His cannons unfurled to their active state and he readied himself for a fight.

He didn't have to wait long.

Mere seconds later, from the nearby treeline, a large boar shaped Grimm with white bone covering its face and two large tusks jutting from its mouth charged toward Rigil…and then immediately veered away, seemingly trying to put as much distance between itself and the hunter-in-training as it could. Rigil stared after it, confused, and then jumped as a shrill cry of laughter exploded from where the Boarbatusk had exited the trees. Behind him, Rigil heard Oswin murmur, "Ah. Now I understand…"

Rigil's head turned to the top of the trees as a form exploded from the canopy and careened into the air. Despite the individual's impressive height, Rigil managed to discern it was a young girl with her hair styled in a pink bob. She had her right hand held out to her side and in it was a glowing orb the size of a basketball. The sphere began to warp, as if made of some sort of liquid, as she reached the apex of her jump and began falling. The ball then rapidly changed shape into a crystalline halberd. In no time at all she had crossed the distance to the escaping Grimm and landed on it hard. The halberd skewered it effortlessly and the beast let out a yelp before collapsing under the girl's weight and dispersing into wisps of black smoke. The girl jumped to a standing position and thrust both her hands into the air exclaiming, "Woot! Oliver! Did you _see_ that?! That was awesome! I only wish Oswin was here to see-OSWIN!"

The girl's head had pivoted in Rigil and Oswin's direction and the instant she laid eyes on the boy's partner, she dashed forward, covering the distance in less time than Rigil had to register the path she took, and tackled Oswin to the ground. Oswin was straddled by the girl who was grinning enthusiastically. The new girl was petite, probably a little shorter than Oswin (Rigil couldn't be one hundred percent sure from the angle he was observing), and had cream skin. On her person she wore a cherry colored denim jacket with no sleeves that was zipped up about half way. Beneath that was a hot pink tank top. The front left breast pocket had a white lily sigil emblazoned on it. Around the girl's waist resided a pink and red checkered skirt that stopped mid thigh. From the bottom of the skirt, scarlet leggings snaked down her legs and slipped into a pair of red sneakers that had white soles. The girl looked like she'd been dipped into a cotton candy machine.

Oswin took a labored breath and said, "Krystal, hon, you're making it somewhat hard to breath."

Krystal cocked her head while the comment processed. The light bulb suddenly blinked on and Krystal swung herself off Oswin. She took Oswin's hand and then yanked, lifting the other girl of the ground and into the air. Oswin landed with grace and took a moment to brush herself off. When she had, she turned to Krystal and smiled, "I'm glad you're safe."

Krystal waved her off, "Come on now Oswin! You know I can handle myself just fine!"

"I'm aware," Oswin nodded lightly, "I'm still glad."

Rigil, who had moved up to the girls by this point, cleared his throat loudly. Krystal jumped, having been completely oblivious to his approach, and Oswin simply turned her head toward him. She motioned from Rigil to Krystal and introduced, "Krystal, this is my new partner Rigil. Rigil, this is my friend Krystal."

Rigil held out his hand and immediately regretted it. Krystal took his hand in an iron grip and shook with a force that shouldn't have been possible for a girl her size. She eventually released his hand and he shook out his arm in an attempt to get rid of the aching pain now throbbing within it. When she had completed her shake, she directed a toothy smile at Rigil and exclaimed, "Nice to meet you!"

Rigil managed a small, somewhat forced smile back at her and answered, "Likewise."

"Oh!"

Krystal suddenly jumped into the air in excitement and said to Oswin, "Introductions! That's right! I need to introduce you to my partner! Oliver! Get over-Oliver?"

Krystal turned to the direction she'd come from with a look of confusion on her face. She cupped her hands around her mouth and hollered, "OLIVER!"

After a brief stint of silence, some bushes rustled and a young man walked into the clearing. He was tall, not as tall as Rigil, but close. He was also somewhat gangly; long, thin arms, slightly gaunt torso, and frail looking face. He had cream colored hair, just a few shades darker than his pale skin, that was thick and shaggy. The man was wearing a short-sleeve, white dress shirt that had the top two buttons undone. Black slacks trailed down his legs and flowed over a pair of flawlessly clean, black oxford shoes. A harness was strapped to his back and it seemed like it housed a number of swords, but Rigil couldn't tell exactly from the angle. A look of exhaustion was apparent on the boy's face and he had to take a second to catch his breath. He bent over, resting his hands on his knees, and took in a number of deep breaths. As he bowed, Rigil was finally able to see the contraption clearly. Two poles criss crossed to form an X shape with a third, vertical pole down the middle. Starting at what Rigil assumed was half way down the aforementioned poles was a thick, hexagonal box. It was black, like the poles, and at its center rested a bright color wheel of differing hues. At the end of each pole was the handle of a ninjato (making it a total of six swords). The handles were covered in a green wrap and the pommel of all the ninjatos had a slanted protrusion jutting from it.

"You alright?" called out a curious Rigil.

The man held up a finger and gave a short nod. When he had finished resting, he looked up and said, "Krystal, could I please ask you to slow down a little? I'm not that great at sprinting long distances."

Krystal responded with a beam and dashed over to the man. She wrapped an arm around his shoulder and stood him upright, a movement that seemed to pain him. Giving him a one armed squeeze, Krystal exclaimed, "This is Oliver! He's really cool. Got some fancy moves with his swords."

Rigil held up an arm and gave a sympathetic look to Oliver as he said, "Yo. Name's Rigil."

Oswin, who had now moved next to her partner, gave a bow and introduced herself as well, "Oswin Osprey. A pleasure."

Oliver nodded to both of them and looked like he was finally recovering. Taking one last deep breath, he slipped out from Krystal's hold and inquired, "Now that Introductions are out of the way, I don't suppose either of you know exactly what happened here, do you?"

All heads turned toward the remnants of what had obviously been a fantastic fight and Krystal suddenly shouted, "Holy snap! Is that ice?!"

Oswin closed her eyes and drooped her head some, murmuring just loud enough that Rigil could catch it, "Oh my dear Krystal. You literally walked right past it when you killed that Boarbatusk."

Rigil chuckled and answered Oliver, "No idea. But I think our destination in on the other side of the field. I ran into some friends on the way here and they said there were a whole bunch of relics in a semicircle of ruined columns. That area over there seems to fit the bill."

Oliver looked in the direction Rigil had pointed out and gave a nod of acknowledgement, "Right then. We shouldn't waste any more time."

"Agreed," piped in Oswin, "And might I suggest we stick together? Unless of course that would interfere with your wager, Rigil."

She looked at Rigil who narrowed his eyes some. Was that a genuine question or was that a jab? The way she'd asked it made it seem like it was the latter, but with how Oswin had acted earlier, he couldn't be sure. Once again deciding to play it off, he formed a grin and responded, "Nope. I'm already screwed as it is. Whether I go at the Emerald Forest with just you or with a group, I'm gonna survive one way or another. Cardin just _had_ to bet I'd live."

The answer seeming to sate her, Oswin turned and began heading toward the ruin circles. Oliver and Krystal followed behind her and Rigil paused just long enough to take up the rear. The group wove between the carnage and was at the ruins in no time. As they crossed the threshold, Rigil could see Cardin had been right. There were twenty pillars forming a half circle and on most of the pillars were gold and black chess pieces. Immediately noticeable were that some of the pieces were missing. Both black bishops were gone, obviously now in Cardin's group's possession. Two gold rooks and two gold knights were also absent. Finally the set of gold pawns were no longer present.

"So we just take one?" asked Oliver aloud.

Rigil shrugged, "I guess."

He move forward and picked up the black knight. Holding it up he inquired, "What do you think, Oswin? This good?"

"That seems fine," she answered plainly.

A sudden wail right next to him made Rigil jump, "Awww! I wanted to the black horsey!"

Rigil looked at her, unsure of how to react, and then breathed a sigh of relief as Oliver spoke up promptly, "Don't worry Krystal. There's another one here. We can all have one."

Oliver held out the second black knight and it was immediately snatched from him grasp by an ecstatic Krystal. She giggled and jumped up and down, "Awesome!"

There was a unanimous sigh released by all other present. As Krystal calmed down a notch, Rigil looked back the way they had come from and said, "Now we need to start heading back. Don't want to be last."

The sentiment was shared by all and the four began their speedy return toward the the cliff face from which they had first departed. They'd been traveling for a good twenty minutes with the only sound coming from Krystal who was constantly chatting about one topic or another. While she droned on about some sort of new outfit she'd set her eyes on to a surprisingly complacent Oliver, Rigil leaned in toward Oswin and whispered, "Is she always like this?"

Oswin raised an eyebrow, "Krystal?"

She turned back and looked at her friend briefly before answering, "No. Not all the time. Sometimes she's even more energetic."

Rigil gave a grimace, "She seems nice enough, but I pity the poor sap that has to be partnered with her for four years."

"I've known Krystal for thirteen years and I'm just fine," Oswin commented succinctly.

"Well yeah," Rigil started, "But you're pretty chi-thirteen years?"

Rigil cut his initial sentence short as the time period registered with him. His mouth dropped open and his head swiveled back and forth between Krystal and Oswin, who now had her eyes closed as if she were trying to concentrate.

"Wow. That's impressive. I'd have gone insane if I had to deal with that bubbly of a person for thirteen-"

"Shush."

Oswin held up a hand right in Rigil's face forcing him to come to a halt. He opened his mouth to ask what she was doing when an oblivious Krystal walked right into him. The two went down in a heap of arms and legs and sputtering.

"Watch where you're walking!" spat a disoriented Rigil.

Krystal let out an embarrassed chuckle, "Oops. My bad."

She and Rigil untangled themselves and, as they got to their feet, Rigil asked, "What the heck Oswin?"

The group was now in a relatively large clearing, similar in size to the clearing where the ruins were. The tree line formed a sort of teardrop shape as the clearing came to a distinct tip that was a cliff edge. Oswin still had her hand up and her head was bowed as if she were listening for something. There was another shudder of the earth causing Rigil to look around for the source, "Looks like there's still some fighting going on. Pretty close too."

Oswin shook her head, "No…..not fighting…it's…..SCATTER!"

Oswin darted to the left, skimming the treeline and making her way to the other side of the clearing. There was another rumble, leagues more violent than the others before, and the ground began to split. Krystal and Oliver took off toward the edge of the cliff and Rigil jumped back into the trees behind him, rotary cannons unfurling rapidly on his wrists. From the crumbling earth, two limbs with pointed protrusions erupted forth. The pointed protrusions split apart into three, sharp fingers and stabbed into the ground. Using the earth as leverage, the limbs pulled up a massive form. Easily the size of an airship, the creature was covered in thick, white plates. Two more limbs that were similar to the first ones jutted out from the back; in between those two hind legs was a short, black tail. Directly opposite the tail was a thin, rodent-like head also covered in white plates. It looked like some sort of grotesque armadillo.

It released an earth shaking roar, it's maw opening to reveal a chasm of red lined with jagged, white teeth. Rigil stared blankly at the beast and said flatly, "That is by far, the scariest freaking thing I have ever seen."

The armadillo, with a swiftness one would not expect from a creature so large, brought back its front paw and took a swipe at Rigil. The Huntsman-in-training reacted swiftly and flipped backwards, narrowly avoiding the opening assault from his foe. Planting his feet as he landed following his third flip, Rigil responded to the Grimm's attack in kind. He brought up both his arms to bear and opened fire with his cannons. The Grimm lowered its head and shifted its body slightly so that its armor plating caught the full force of Rigil's counter attack. The chiming clang of bullets ricocheting rang in the air and Rigil ceased his attack after realizing his bullets were doing nothing. Scowling, he questioned aloud, "What in the heck is this thing?!"

"A Tunnelling Horror," answered Oliver's voice from across the way, "It has heavy armor that is nigh impenetrable. Its underside, however, is vulnerable to attack."

Rigil's head swiveled to where Oliver was, his face displaying a mixture of curiosity and being impressed. Oliver took notice and shrugged, "I like studying Grimm. Best to know thy enemy, correct?"

Rigil gave a nod of agreeance followed by a look of shock as a shrill cry exploded from nearby. All eyes were suddenly on the source. Krystal was easily twenty feet in the air, her orb already ebbing and flowing like some sort of viscous liquid. It took the shape of a large axe and she reared back to strike at the beast below her as the gravity began to pull her back down. Oliver's eyes widened at the sight and he called out, "Krystal! Did you not hear what I said?! I said the outer armor of the Tunnelling Horror is impenetrable!"

"No," she giggled as she closed in on her target, "You said _nigh_ impenetrable. Which means there's a chance I can penetrate it!"

Oliver's mouth hung open at the boldness and surety of his partner's words. He looked to Rigil and Oswin for some sort of backup, but got on a disheveled look from Oswin and a murmur from a shrugging Rigil, "She has a point."

Krystal gave another battle cry just seconds before she swung. The axe tore through the air causing a piercing whistle to ring out and a impacted the Tunnelling Horror with such tremendous force, the nearby trees swayed from the ensuing air pressure wave. While Krystal's attack connected, it rebounded off the tough shell just as swiftly as it had landed. Krystal recoiled backward, thrown off balance, and squeaked, "Not nigh enough apparently. Uh oh."

The Tunnelling Horror twirled around and swiped at Krystal, its paw easily twice her size. Unable to move, suspended off kilter in the air, Krystal squeezed her eyes shut and braced for impact. A fraction of a second later Krystal did in fact feel an impact, but it was much lighter than she anticipated. Other unexpected sensations were also present: a steady stream of air flowing over her as she was displaced horizontally, two objects bracing her across her back and under her knees, and the firm grip it what she assumed were fingers on her shoulder and above her knee. Slowly opening her eyes, she found herself in Oliver's embrace. His gaze was set ahead of them, obviously prepping to land as they fell. Time seemed to slow for Krystal. As they touched down, Oliver looked down at her and asked, his voice seemingly deeper than usual, "Are you unharmed m'lady?"

Krystal stared at him, momentarily enthralled by a glowing aura around him. Managing a mutter, Krystal inquired, "What?"

As her eyes refocused, the glow around Oliver vanished and, in his normal voice, he responded, "Are you alright, Krystal?"

She slowly shook her head. Satisfied she was fine, Oliver set her on the ground and stated, "I suppose Krystal is correct. I did say nigh. I guess I'll take a crack at this thing."

Oliver tapped a button on his belt buckle and a whirring sound began emanating from his back. He took a step forward and Krystal was distracted from staring at Oliver by a flashing light on the huntsman-in-training's hexagonal pack. The light began circling around the rainbow color wheel in the center of the black hexagon before stopping on the color yellow. Oliver pressed the belt buckle button again, an action the was followed by another grinding sound. The poles housing the swords shuddered and they all extended outward from their home and were allowed to angle themselves toward the sky by ball and socket joints. All six swords were then shot into the air as if from the barrel of a gun and it was obvious the blades were covered in a yellow coating; presumably dust. Oliver leapt up after them.

Rigil looked on, impressed at the complexity of the weapon. The small smile on his face faded into an open mouth gawk as he witnessed what came next. Oliver snatched a blade underhanded in both his hands; a somewhat expected motion. Then came the unexpected. He twisted mid-air and caught one blade each in the crevasse of his elbows. Finally, on the back end of the twirl, he grabbed the second to last sword with his mouth and the final one was pressed into place behind his knee. One of the spider-like arms protruding from hexagon blasted a beam of yellow energy into the air. The ensuing recoil sent Oliver into a spiral as he fell. The young man picked up speed in both fall and rotation as he descended and moments before his image became a spinning blur, Rigil took note of the sparks that began dancing on the edges of all the swords.

Oliver was only out of sight for a moment as he swiftly came into contact with the Tunnelling Horror. His spin came to a screeching halt as every blade landed rapidly on the unimaginably thick carapace. Bolts of lightning cascaded into the air and tore into the ground, carving scars wherever they touched. Oliver narrowed his eyes, not surprised by the lack of damage that seemed to be enacted on the beast, but also somewhat disappointed. He pushed off with his ninjato so that he could get some distance to reassess the four's strategy and landed on his one free leg. As he did so, a wave of exhaustion hit him and he swayed slightly. He found himself almost collapsing, but two of the poles on his pack extended swiftly and anchored him to the ground.

From nearby, Krystal's voice shouted, "That was awesome!"

Oliver smiled some, but kept his vision on the enemy. He felt like he was missing something. In all of the lore books he'd read up on Grimm, he was sure there was something else important about the Tunnelling Horrors. They could dig underground quickly, they had virtually impenetrable armor, their underbellies were their weak point….what else?

The answer dawned on him too late.

The Tunnelling Horror turned it's glare on Oliver. It sank to the ground and then pushed up with its paws with sufficient to send the overgrown Grimm into the air. It curled into a large ball and began to twirl rapidly. The instant it touched down, it careened toward Oliver, not unlike a Boarbatusk. The huntsman-in-training moved to evade, but when his anchors detached he realized he hadn't had enough time to recover his energy. Despite this, he flexed the muscles in his leg to attempt to jump. This turned out to be a bad move. His vision blurred and all the strength he had left his body. His ninjato clattered to the ground and Oliver fell over. He caught himself with his hands, but the motion instigated a cough. Red splattered the ground under his face and he winced as pain shot through his lungs. Through blurred vision, he looked to either side of him. Rigil and Oswin were blocked from his view by the encroaching Grimm and a shocked looking Krystal was gazing at him a short distance away.

He let out a chuckle at this ironic position he was in. Not ninety seconds ago he'd moved Krystal out of a similar situation and was now himself helpless. Exhaling in disbelief sent another wave of splintering misery reverberating through his body. The ground began to rumble more violently as the Tunnelling Horror approached and Oliver could do little more than wait. He saw Krystal moving to try and intercept, but prayed she wouldn't be able to put herself into harm's way. Fate seemed to be listening to him that day as both before the Tunnelling Horror could reach him and before Krystal could attempt to save him the Tunnelling Horror came to a screeching halt and began twirling horizontally in place as opposed to its previous vertical forward motion. Then came an ear splitting _**BANG!**_ and air wave that knocked him on his side.

The Tunnelling Horror ceased its rotational motion and uncurled on its side, obviously dazed. With it now not blocking his view, Oliver arched his head to try and make sense of what had just happened. Because of how far away she was, it took him a moment to find his answer. Behind Rigil, just barely visible to Oliver (part because of his already blurring vision, part because she was half a football field away), was Oswin. She was laying on the ground with her rifle braced on her shoulder. In the air directly above her, seemingly in some sort of orbit, were six elongated diamond shaped objects. Oliver wasn't quite sure why the bullet seemed to hit its target before the sound reached him, but he wasn't in a position to make inquiries. His previous curiosity, however, seemed to sated. When he first met Oswin he was confused as to how she was able to play the role of a sniper while blind, but now he figured it had something to do with some sort of cord extending from the rifle's scope and disappearing beneath her hair.

Rigil's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Holy crap!" boomed the huntsman-in-training.

The young man turned his attention from gawking at the overturned Grimm to Oswin and shouted, "That's one helluva rifle!"

Oswin offered no reply and looked to be lining up another shot. Taking the hint that Oswin was in no mood to talk during a fight, Rigil revolved back to the Tunnelling Horror to assess its status. It was recovering from its stupor and looked to be trying to right itself.

"TAKE THE SHOT!" called out Oliver, gripping at his chest as he did so, "We might not get another chance to hit its underbelly!"

Krystal, by this time, had gotten over to Oliver and crouched next to him, a hand on his back. She wanted to ask him if he was alright, but found herself looking to Oswin to see how she acted. Krystal could just barely make out her friend's finger twitch and the Tunnelling Horror was sent rolling from some sort of impact. Like before, the sound of a gun firing and the accompanying wave of air came a beat after the initial impact. Krystal half expected the Grimm to dissipate, not thinking the beast could survive a second shot from Oswin's gun, but disappointment found its way into her demeanor as the Tunnelling Horror stopped short of the cliff face and plopped back onto its legs. It glared at the four huntsmen-in-training and released a roar.

Oliver cursing next to her allowed her an opportunity to voice her concern, "Are you alright, Ollie?"

The boy nodded slowly and staggered to his feet.

"I'm fine Krystal. I just needed a moment to catch my breath."

"That didn't look like catching your breath. That looked more like trying not to cough up a lung," Krystal glanced at the blood on the ground, "And it doesn't look like you were doing a good job."

Oliver placed a hand on Krystal's shoulder and smiled at her, "I appreciate your concern, Krystal, but there's no need to worry. I'm fine."

Oliver maintained his smile even though he knew he was partially lying. The pain was subsiding and he was fairly certain he could continue combat, but he was certainly far from fine. Krystal looked at him for a moment and Oliver was worried that she might press further, but the stomping feet of the Tunnelling Horror seemed to distract her.

It surveyed each potential prey in front of it and zoned in on the human that had knocked it around. It jumped up and curled into a ball and that's when Rigil saw their chance to claim victory.

The Tunnelling Horror landed and streaked toward Oswin. Oswin reacted quickly, standing up from her prone position and leaping vertically into the air. She threw out her hand and the six diamond shaped satellites zipped in between her and the Tunnelling Horror. The tips directed at the Grimm began to glow and materialized an orb of pulsating red. The orbs crackled and then from them came a lance of energy that tore through the air. The streaks of energy slammed into the Tunnelling Horror and while they offered some resistance, they did little to slow it down. Not phased by the results of her attempt at damaging the Grimm, Oswin brought her arm back to her chest and clutched her hand into a fist. The diamond bits raced back to their owner and fell back into their resting place on the rifle. Instead of fitting snugly into their slots, however, they remained angled outward slightly and fired off another batch of lasers. The force imparted was sufficient enough to send Oswin further into the air and out of the path of the Tunnelling Horror.

The rotating mass of death passed harmlessly under her falling form, travelling a good deal into the tree line granting the ground a moment of temporary respite. Oswin landed gracefully, kneeling slightly to cushion her fall. She looked up at her partner when she heard him call out, "Oswin! Circle up! I've got a plan!"

Rigil turned to Krystal and Oliver (who had just finished resheathing his ninjato) and waved them over, "You guys too!"

It took only a few seconds for the group to gather and Rigil immediately set in, "Hey Oliver. That pack of yours, it's got a whole lot of different kinds of dust in it, right? And you can put it on your swords?"

Oliver nodded, "Yes. It electrostatically coats my ninjato with whatever dust type I choose. I have two uses of each dust installed at any one time."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Rigil said, waving him off, "Don't need the gritty details. Do you have any Gravity Dust?"

Narrowing his eyes, Oliver answered, "I do. What exactly do you have planned?"

Rigil offered no explanation at this point and looked to Oswin, "Those diamond thing-ys, how much force can they produce? They seemed to toss you pretty easy."

"My V-Bits?" questioned Oswin.

Rigil shrugged, "I guess."

"Well, if I push them, together they can generate enough thrust to push a Bullhead through the air."

Clapping his hands together, Rigil exclaimed, "Awesome. Now listen carefully. I don't want to repeat myself."

As the group leaned in, the Tunnelling Horror managed to get its bearings straight. It turned around and locked on to its prey. They were conveniently together in one group. Taking advantage, its paws began tearing into the ground beneath it and it slipped inside the earth. It rapidly swam through the dirt to its mark. The beast could feel the tremors of their feet growing closer and closer and when they were right under it, it dove straight up. It exploded from the ground, tossing dirt and debris in every direction. The four had unfortunately scattered just in time, but it wasn't deterred. It singled out the female the had taken two shots at him again. She was close now; too close to avoid it if it spun at her. It took to the air and began its motion to curl up. This turned out to be a mistake.

To its left, the human with the wrist guns shouted at the top of his voice, "Oliver! Now!"

The white haired human appeared in the air above it holding his six blades. This time, however, all six blades were coated in black. With expert precision, the boy tossed all six blades downward before it could curl up completely. Each blade, much heavier than before, found a home in between the minute creases in the armored plating that were only momentarily revealed when it began to curl up. The blades sank in some, which was uncomfortable and annoying as it prevented him from curling up completely, but not fatal. Then came another cry from the wrist gun boy, "Oswin!"

A whirring sound became apparent nearby and the six floating metal shapes that had tried to injure it earlier were buzzing around it. They zigged and zagged through the air, lining up for whatever it was they were doing. Then they dashed forward. Each shape struck the end of one of the white haired boy's swords and drove them inside the Grimm all the way to the hilt. The Tunnelling Horror released a shriek as pain rocked its body. The shapes quickly switched position and angled themselves under the guard of the swords embedded in its back. They pushed the swords out and into the air, an act that left the beast in a stupor. It was just barely able to register a figure sliding to a stop in front of it. It was the female that had attempted to strike him earlier with an axe. In her hands this time was a staff of some sorts. She reared back with it in hand and exclaimed, "Batter up!"

She smacked the Tunnelling Horror with all her strength and, dazed from the damage it had taken, it couldn't muster any strength to resist. The force of the blow sent the creature airborne and over the cliff edge. It gave one final roar of defiance before disappearing into the canopy far below.

Rigil gave a fist pump as the Grimm disappeared from view. Krystal dove across the distance between her and Oliver and tackled him to the ground in an ecstatic hug. While the action seemed to knock the wind out of him, Oliver didn't make a move to stop her. In fact, he seemed to return her gesture. Rigil looked at Oswin and said, "Not a bad plan, eh?"

Oswin smiled lightly and responded, "It was obviously sufficient."

"Just sufficient?"

"There were o' so many ways that could have gone wrong," chuckled the girl, "But luck seemed to be on your side today."

Rigil laughed, "There's no luck about it! We're just that good."

"Indeed…." answered Oswin.

Move up next to her, Rigil followed with, "Well I guess that's that. We should make our way back to the cliff where we started before another one of those bastards show up."

"Agreed," breathed Oliver's strained voice, "You should probably let me up, Krystal."

Krystal jumped to her feet, being prone obviously not being an issue that would delay her. Oliver followed suit, albeit more gingerly, and looked to Rigil, "Lead on. It's time to go."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Riley closed her eyes. The rush of fresh air on her face was a sensation she adored. To her it represented a freedom she often sought after; the freedom to go wherever she wanted just like the wind. When it coursed across her skin and weaved in between the red and blue streaked strands of her hair she felt completely displaced from a world full of rules and restrictions. But that feeling didn't last. As her descent began, Riley returned to the land of sight and reached around to the left side of her waist. Located there was a blue object with a sort of white starburst design on it; it was shaped like an odd letter U. Its bottom curved upwards like normal, but instead of the side lines staying straight, the left one extended slightly farther than the right and both curved outward making a slight hook. Riley gripped the bottom of the U and flicked it forward. The underside of the U opened up and a long piece of metal unfurled away from the bottom curve. It extended about two feet in length before snapping tightly into place. When it finished unraveling, six glowing strings materialized stretching from the tip of the piece of metal all the was to the center of the U. Riley moved her hand to the metal extension and as she gripped it, a curved blade popped out from the edge of the U. With that, the weapon's shape had completely taken form and the appearance of a Stratocaster guitar was glaringly obvious.

Placing it in front of her, Riley rolled to the side so that the guitar was facing toward the right and took a deep breath. In the last year, her semblance had grown more powerful and she still wasn't confident that she had it quite under control. She focused on the intensity of the sound she wanted and then strummed the strings. An enormous _**CLANG!**_ left the front of the Stratocaster and Riley was violently propelled to her left.

"Crap!" was all she could manage as the excess force drove the air from her unsuspecting lungs. Her fall was hastened and she found herself unable to control her movements. The canopy of the forest came upon her quickly and Riley crashed into the thick collection of trees. Each branch she smashed through was met with a loud expletive from Riley's mouth. Tearing a path through the woods, she hit the ground and carved a long trench along her trajectory. After about 500 feet, she finally came to a stop. Dazed and irritated she grumbled, "Ow…."

She rolled out of the gash in the earth and lay on her stomach for a moment trying to regain her composure. Feeling a full sixty seconds was sufficient to heal her pride, she sorely rose to her feet and shook the dust off her person. As she brushed herself off, she realized both her hands were free. Frantically she began turning in place try to locate her weapon. A wave of relief poured over her as she saw the body of her guitar embedded in a tree a couple dozen feet back the way she'd fallen. She jogged over and gripped the neck of the guitar. Riley gave a tug, but the Stratocaster didn't budge. She narrowed her eyes some and tried again. Similar results. Starting to become agitated, she went around to the other side and positioned herself so she could try and push on it. It gave a little, but didn't vacate its location. Riley growled and said, "Fine. You wanna play it like that?"

The young faunus placed her fingers on the glowing strings and plucked. The entire tree above the top of the Stratocaster exploded into wood chips. Half a second later a shower of splintery debris rained down where Riley stood. Riley gave a satisfied nod stating, "Good job, Aoide. Now let's roll. Gotta find this relic."

...

Riley let out an exasperated sigh and slumped some. She had no idea which way she was supposed to go. The girl began pacing back and forth, racking her brain for a solution to her predicament. Professor Ozpin had said the first step was to find a partner. She shuddered at the thought of being stuck with someone other than Yang for her entire tenure at Beacon. If she were lucky she'd land someone tolerable like Oswin.

Oswin.

That was actually a very good second pick next to Yang. Riley nodded and decided then and there that she was going to keep an eye out for Oswin as well as Yang. Another thought then popped into her head. For every Oswin and Yang there was also a Jaune or Krystal.

Oh gods, Krystal.

Riley's nose twitched as she strained every fiber of her being to remember and lock in Krystal's scent. The girl seemed nice enough, but she also had more energy than Ruby and Yang put together following a trip to a candy store. That was an obscene amount of energy. Riley's inner introvert practically died at the possibility of being stuck with someone like Krystal. Someone like Jaune might be manageable; she could probably ignore him into submission. The boy didn't seem like he had too much confidence anyway and if she managed to shoot what little was left before he got too comfortable around her, it was likely he'd leave her alone unless absolutely necessary.

Riley clapped her hands together. Game plan established. Find Yang or Oswin, avoid Krystal and Jaune, find a relic, get back to Beacon. Simple enough. She turned her nose to the air and began sniffing. Nothing peaked her interest at first, though that wasn't surprising with how off far away everyone was. It took her a few minutes to pinpoint Yang, but she managed and sped off in her direction. With luck, Riley would manage to make it to Yang before someone else. If not, Oswin would be her next target. This forest was massive. What were the chances _both_ of her number one options would find someone before Riley found them?

* * *

Apparently high.

Riley had spent ten minutes sprinting toward Yang's scent and was fairly close when another smell became apparent near her friend. If Riley wasn't mistaken, it was the girl with black hair with the book from the previous evening. Riley had been a little disheartened, but she had held out hope for Oswin. That hope had been shattered twenty minutes later. She had locked on to Oswin and was on her way to her when the same thing that happened with Yang happened with her. Someone else had bumped into Oswin, taking her off the menu.

Now Riley was following another scent. She'd picked it up while she had been trying to locate the nearest person so she would be wasting any more time putzing about. The smell had brought her back east, toward where she'd "landed" earlier. The perplexing thing about the smell, the thing that had Riley interested, was that it was familiar to her. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but it was definitely someone she'd smelled before. But between the other students, the Grimm, and the discharged Dust piling up in her nose along with the wind taking the scent too and fro from her, she couldn't pinpoint anything specific in the smell to remind her of who it was. Whoever it was was a ways beyond her crash site. She'd passed by that location about thirty minutes ago and was slowly closing in on it, but, like her, it was on the move.

Her trek to find this mystery person had brought her into a thicker part of the forest. The trees were closer together and the foliage was so thick above, only pinpricks of sunlight were capable of piercing the canopy. This low light was of no discomfort to Riley, of course. Her faunus heritage countered the darkness quite adeptly and she continued to press forward without any delay. She traversed the ever growing umbrage quickly, keen on finishing this test. It'd already been an hour since they'd been thrown off the cliff and the faunus was growing anxious that she hadn't found anyone yet. Most of the other student smells she was keeping track of were partnered at this point. Some were even grouped in clusters of four. It looked like the disease called teamwork was spreading. Riley wasn't fond of the idea, but knew the moment she was going to catch it was nigh.

A sudden realization caused her to stop dead in her tracks. Putting her sense of smell on the back burner, she began to flex her ears. Nothing. Everything had gone absolutely silent. No birds, no insects, no wind, no distant gunfire, no sound of any kind. The hair on her arms stood up on end as a chill drove down her spine. This was unsettling, unnatural, unrealistic. On edge now, Riley cautiously began moving again. Her first step gave her a heart attack. Instead of the soft crunch of grass she'd grown accustomed to, there came a loud cluttering of heel on stone. Her head snapped down and she found herself standing on not woodland earth, but cobblestone. Lots of it. Gazing around she realized that some of the objects she initially passed off as trees were actually columns of some sort covered in vines and moss. Riley looked behind to see if she'd been completely blind, but soon concluded that this cobbled floor had just begun. She must have been so focused on moving forward she hadn't realized she had stumbled on some sort of ruin.

Investigating further she found that, at one point, some sort of large structure must have existed here. Remains of walls and doorways were abundant. Time had taken its toll, but it hadn't quite erased the evidence of this building's past. Riley was so enthralled in the ancient structure, she almost didn't notice something twinkling in her peripheral vision. Turning to identify it, Riley noted that she had entered into some large circular room. The roof had long since eroded away, but the walls were intact enough to identify the room's shape. In the center of the room, probably fifteen or twenty feet away from Riley, resided a single column. Unlike its brethren, it was pristine and stood about three feet off the ground. Resting on top of it was a crystalline chess piece; a king specifically. This discovery set off some confusion for Riley.

Professor Ozpin had said the destination for this initiation would be in a ruin of some sorts, but he also said it was to the north. She had most definitely traveled east. At best she'd traveled slightly northeast, but most certainly not dead north. He'd also said there'd be multiple relics to choose from; she found it hard to believe that every other relic had been taken from this place. If they had even been here. The pedestal in front of her was the only obvious place for a relic. Growling at the inconsistencies, she decided she might as well take it. She was wasting time trying to figure out the specifics of her situation and still needed to find a partner. Riley crossed the short distance between herself and pedestal and snatched the king off it. She placed it in the pack on the small of her back and prepared to head out. That's when she heard it.

 _ **SNAP!**_

A twig broke somewhere near her. She went to try and pinpoint the location, but a split second after the branch broke, four shadowy creatures erupted from behind the chamber walls. They were approaching her fast, but Riley was faster. She gripped the neck of her Stratocaster and turned into a twirl. The creatures walked right into the attack and were summarily bifurcated. Riley recognized the elongated faces covered in bone instantly. Beowolves.

Another sound touched her ears. The soft stepping sound of padded feet. But unlike the previous beowolves, this sound was heavier. It was coming from behind her. She whipped around, prepared to fight, but froze as a scent entered her nose. It was the smell she'd been following. As she lay eyes on what was now in front of her she realized that it wasn't a someone she recognized. It was a something.

It was much bigger now, easily three times the size of a normal beowolf, but the injury it had incurred from the Beacon student the previous year was glaring. A long scar ran down from the top of its left eye all the way to the bottom of its slightly agape maw. White rib-like armor curved from a bony spine around its chest and large spikes protruded from the back of its shoulders. Long, gangly arms grazed the ground as it stood ominously in front of Riley. It was undeniable. This was the Alpha that had attacked her and her class during her final year at Signal. Anger welled within the faunus as the memories began flooding back in distinct clarity.

She flipped her guitar around and held it as one normally would. Preparing her fingers, she glared with a livid ferocity into the blank orbs of fire that acted as eyes for the beowolf, "A lot has changed since back then. You won't beat me twice…"

The beowolf seemed to almost snicker in response. It gave a few light grunts, but didn't move otherwise, almost daring Riley to do something. Riley obliged. She lifted her hand and strummed her guitar. A wave of sound erupted outward and tore apart the ruined debris in front of her. The beowolf braced and held for a moment, but was lifted off the ground. The wave violently tossed it into the distance and it crashed through a few of the decaying walls. It was momentarily buried in rubble, but a clawed paw burst out and dragged the rest of it into the open. It staggered to its feet and the smirk it previously had had been replaced with an agitated scowl. The beowolf huffed and then let out a piercing howl.

Movement sounded all around Riley and a dozen lesser beowolves lurked out from the shadows. The drew a laugh from Riley. She beamed at the alpha and shouted, "Not so confident now, are ya?"

The beast narrowed its eyes at her and flicked its head up a little. In response all the other beowolves attacked. One landed right in front of Riley and took a swipe. Riley flipped backward and landed on one hand. Upside, she pivoted and used her other hand to return the greeting. The beowolf wasn't as nimble. The blade of Riley's guitar landed solidly and sliced it from waist to shoulder. It dissipated into black and while Riley was proud of the kill, she did have a chance to celebrate as two more moved in on her. She bent her elbow and threw herself into the air. The beowolves landed where she hand just been which was unfortunate for them. Mid-air, Riley reoriented herself so that she was facing toward them and strummed her strings. The beowolves were crushed under the ensuing pressure and pushed into the ground leaving a small crater.

Riley touched down and immediately had to block as a beowolf sped at her. It's claws hit the guitar and, as they dragged across it, tugged on the chords. A blast occurred that tore apart the beowolf and sent Riley flying backwards. She crashed through a tree and hit the ground with a thud. Momentarily dazed she almost didn't see the three beowolves lunging at her. A number of foul words left her mouth as she rolled, just in time, out of the way of her foes' attacks. She pushed herself off the ground quickly and tried to get her bearings. The three beowolves that had just attacked her were predating in front of her. She'd killed four. That left five unaccounted for. Riley sniffed to try and locate them and discovered they were effectively on top of her. She twisted 180° and was suddenly face to face with the Alpha. The other five were close behind him, but holding their position. Before Riley could properly react, the beowolf alpha brought its fist upward. The blow impacted right under the faunus's chin and she soared into the air, her ears ringing and her teeth chattering.

Time seemed to slow for Riley as she flew upward. She saw stars through her blurred vision and pain reverberated through her body. Her Aura held out, but she knew full well that that strike had knocked out a considerable chunk of her reserves. Her perception of time returned to normal as her descent began. She crashed onto the ground a dozen or so feet away from where she had previously been standing. Riley moved to stand, but found it a struggle. She drove her guitar into the ground and used it to brace herself. Once on her feet, she released a low growl, "That's the only good shot you get on me…."

Riley moved her hand to a small rectangular impression under the strings and pressed down on it. The action opened a small hole and an object rose up. It was a thin, L-shaped bar attached on a swivel. Riley moved her hand to the whammy bar and flicked it down. The strings on the Stratocaster began to glow a dark brown. She flicked it two more times and it cycled through a red glow to a light blue. Glaring at the smug looking beowolf she stated venomously, "I've made a few upgrades in the last year. Let's see you shrug off what's coming next."

The comment didn't faze the beowolf outwardly, but it instinctively released another howl, the caution that had allowed it to survive all the years prior kicking in. Movement once again became obvious around the faunus and a horde of beowolves crept from the darkness. Riley counted about thirty including the alpha and his five already there. Riley ignored them all, her focus solely on the alpha. She brought her hand up, preparing to strum. This prompted the alpha to move toward her in an attempt to stop her before she attacked. The original five lesser beowolves followed after it and all leapt at Riley. But it was too late. She brought her hand down and played the chord. A violent torrent of water exploded out from in front of the guitar. It started out small where it originated, but quickly fanned out to be almost twenty feet wide. Its turbulent forces rapidly tore apart the lesser beowolves and drove the alpha backwards. The stream rocketed forward thirty meters and decimated everything in its path. The ruined rock structures were obliterated, every tree in the way was uprooted and splintered, and in the ground was carved a deep crevasse.

As the water funnel died down, it revealed that the alpha was still standing. It was soaked and damaged. The horn-like protrusions on its back were no longer present and a lot of its other boney armor was chipped and crumbling. The alpha was breathing heavily and it was evident that it had taken everything the beast had to endure Riley's attack. It gave a drowsy growl to which Riley responded, "That was for Professor Charming."

She clicked the whammy bar one more time and the strings turned yellow. Riley placed her fingers on the chords and a sudden calm overtook her. The knowledge of what was coming next brought her a semblance of inner peace. She closed her eyes to fully take in this moment. It was surreal for her. Riley hadn't known she'd needed this, she'd never actually acknowledged it, but now that she was here, finding closure for the weakness she displayed one year prior, it was liberating. Hundreds of days of subconsciously wallowing in her inability to act were suddenly washed away. It allowed her to close the door on that chapter of her life and cross into the next step of her journey; the part she where she was strong enough to protect those she cared about. She opened her eyes and locked them with the alpha beowolf's.

"And this...this is for me."

The beowolf immediately turned tail and started to run, instinct driving it away from the threat in front of it, but it was for naught. Riley drove her fingers over the strings and sparks cascaded into the air. From the sparks bolted arcs of lightning. They touched the pooling water on the ground and electrified them. The entire line carved out by the water went up in a flash instantly. The alpha disappeared from view and when the brightness died down, nothing remained of it. Calmly, Riley looked around the clearing at the remaining beowolves and asked, voice steady, "Who's next?"

The beowolves exchanged glances amongst themselves and then looked at the destruction Riley had wrought. In response the horde scattered into the trees, their scents disappearing rapidly. Riley released a loud exhale and collapsed onto her butt. She was exhausted. The fight had been relatively short, but she'd taken a beating and had spent much more energy than she was used to. After a few moments of catching her breath she sorely rose to her feet and checked her pouch. The chess piece was safe and sound.

 _Good,_ she thought.

She wasn't sure if Professor Ozpin and Professor Glynda would take a broken relic, but she didn't want to find out. Looking around to try and get her bearings, she picked the direction she thought the cliff was in and headed that way. Hopefully she'd find her partner on the way back.

* * *

Riley staggered up the path and nearly fell over when she reached the top of the cliff. The sun was setting and the sky glowed a dim orange. She was sweating and out of breath and desperately wanting a shower and sleep. She hadn't found anyone else on her way back, so she was a little discouraged at that, but the universe had decided to make her trip back interesting instead of dull. The faunus had run into a plethora of Grimm and while she had conquered them all, the sheer volume had left her with no energy at all. She took a deep breath to try and get some oxygen to her blood, but the breath got caught in her throat when a voice sounded behind her.

"So you've finally arrived Ms. Stynn."

Riley flew into a coughing fit, the sudden voice scaring the bejeezus out of her. She twirled around and locked eyes with Professor Goodwitch. Riley instinctively put a few feet between them and then stammered, "Y-y-yes ma'am. The Grimm didn't want to make my way back easy."

"They never do," stated Professor Goodwitch.

The teacher looked around a moment and then observed, "You don't have a partner."

Riley grimaced and shook her head, "I looked all over, but I couldn't find anyone. Everyone else had paired up. I did find the relic though."

Professor Goodwitch frowned and began, "Ms. Stynn, Professor Ozpin made it clear that you were to find a partner as-"

She cut her sentence short when Riley presented the relic she had found. Narrowing her eyes, she gave a long, hard look at Riley before taking the relic. She turned it around in her hand and murmured, "I see…."

Professor Goodwitch turned to the path leading back to Beacon and said, "Return to the ballroom at Beacon. We have nothing further to discuss."

Riley's stomach did a somersault. That did not sound good. At all. The faunus began to try and defend herself to the woman who might no longer be a teacher to her, but was cut off before she could utter a word.

"The ballroom, Ms. Stynn. Go."

The finality of Goodwitch's words stung. Riley winced a little, but slowly nodded. She pivoted to her left and began hobbling toward the path. Frustration, fear, and, above all else, disappointment welled within her. Her future at Beacon might have just ended before it even had a chance to begin.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"Rigil Fairweather, Oswin Osprey, Oliver Drehung, Krystal Kingsly. The four of you retrieved the Black Knight pieces. From this day forward you will work together as team ROOK (rock), led by Rigil Fairweather."

Riley watched from the cheering crowd as Krystal tackled her team members to the ground with a hug of elation. Oswin and Oliver seemed resigned to their fate and Rigil looked somewhat disheveled. When the group was on its feet, they exited stage left. Coming from the right side were four other students Riley only recognized from when they were all on the cliff. Leading the line was a girl with long, dark brown hair; it fell below her waist and was tied at the tips to form a dolphin-tail split. She was wearing a black skirt that had pleated segments and beneath those she was wearing black shorts. A black sports bra was hugging her chest under her white tank top. On her hands were black leather gloves with metal plates on the back and knuckles and on her left arm was a red-and-black leather vambrace. She was also wearing boots with black stockings. On her face was a wide, confident grin as she looked out into the crowd.

Behind her was a tall man with shoulder length brown hair. He was wearing a dark green dress shirt with a key lime green vest over top of it. Khaki slacks covered his legs and from one of the pockets hung a chain which presumably was attached to some sort of old fashioned watch. He too was smiling, but not quite as enthusiastically as the girl in front. Following up the man was another girl. She was taller than the first girl, but shorter than the student in front of her. She had raven hair that stopped just below her shoulders. Riley couldn't be sure because of all the people jostling around her and obscuring any good view she might have been able to find, but the second girl's hair seemed to be unkempt. Like it was messy, but there also seemed to be style in the chaos. She was wearing a white blouse and what appeared to be a lab coat. Black pants stretched down her legs and came to rest on top of a pair of black heels. She had her hands in her pockets and didn't seem thrilled to be on stage.

Finally, wrapping up the line, was a second young man. He was slightly shorter than the first boy, but taller than both of the girls. He was clad all in black and had dark gray hair that ceased its length at his ears. A cloth mask covered most of his face leaving only the top half visible. He could have been the poster child for a Ninja recruiting center. Despite his interesting outfit, the most striking feature Riley noticed on him were his eyes; they were strikingly yellow and filled with an intense apathy. It was incredibly off putting. Even at a distance.

The group came to a halt and turned to face the crowd. Ozpin then stated, "Shen Yuuki, Ombra Obsidia, Nightlock Alizarin, and Tifa Persimmon. The four of you chose the gold pawn pieces. From this day forward you will work together as team SOAP, led by Shen Yuuki."

The newly christened team SOAP then exited the stage. Following them, three more teams were called: team CRDL, team JNPR, and team RWBY. Riley gave a small smile at seeing Yang hug her sister Ruby when their team was assembled. She also chuckled at the look of surprise on Ruby's face when she was christened their leader. Riley wasn't sure how well Ruby would lead team RWBY, but she must have demonstrated some significant talent in the initiation to get the spot.

Riley eyed Ozpin from the crowd waiting for her name to be called for something, but it never came. After congratulating the teams one last time he concluded the ceremony with wishing luck to the students for their first year. He then briskly left the stage. Riley was stunned. She hadn't been called. She'd been passed over. All that work and effort she'd put in was now meaningless. A feeling arose in her stomach and she thought for a moment she was going to be sick. That feeling of nausea, however, rapidly changed to a burning sensation as anger welled within. No. No way in hell was she letting this slide. She'd gone through too much to be left behind while everyone else moved on with their training. Pushing through the crowd, Riley beelined for the exit, sniffing at the air for Ozpin's scent. She grasped it almost immediately after she began searching and bulldozed through the exiting stream of students after him. Ozpin had apparently gotten a couple corners away in the short head start he had on her, but rounding a bend in an empty hallway she located him.

"Professor Ozpin!"

Ozpin stopped when his name was called and turned to see who had shouted. Riley jogged the short distance between them and said, "Sir, I don't understand. My name is Riley Stynn and I was in the initiation yesterday. Why wasn't I placed on any of the teams you called today?"

The headmaster stared blankly at her a moment, taking a sip from his steaming cup of coffee, before responding plainly, "Well I thought that would be obvious. You failed to qualify for any of the upcoming first year teams."

Without saying anything else, he turned on his heel and began walking again. Riley was right behind him. She moved in front of him and began walking backwards. Ozpin, who was mid sip, raised an eyebrow at her appearance, but didn't cease his walk. Her anger dissipated into desperation and she began, "Sir, please. I've worked so hard this last year. I've poured my heart and soul into achieving this goal, that is, joining Beacon, and I just can't give it up that easy. There has to be something I can do. A test? A retake of the initiation? Anything?"

"I'm sorry," Ozpin began in between sips, "You just did not qualify with your performance in the Emerald Forest."

"Is this because I didn't find a partner? Because I tried. I tried real hard. I found a relic first on accident and by the time I got to a place where I _could_ start looking again, everyone had paired off. But I didn't stop there. I kept looking and all these Grimm got in my way and then the sun started setting and-"

Riley's back hit something hard and she turned to see a door. It was apparently Ozpin's destination as he reached past her and opened it. As he walked in she began following after him and gave one last plea, "Professor Ozpin, please. You have to reconsider. You have to-"

"Oz," chuckled a voice, "You should stop messing with her. It's only mostly funny now. She looks like she might start crying."

Three very distinct scents suddenly registered in her nose. She knew each and everyone of them. They were the driving force behind every motivation she had to join Beacon. Lounging sideways on an blue armchair was one of the four people who had saved her the year before. It was the one with the long brown hair and bronze eyes. He was dressed in the same outfit she had first seen him in: a light brown duster with a black dress shirt and suspenders attached to a pair of sienna slacks. He wasn't wearing the gloves she remembered and his boots were different, heavier duty. Standing in a corner behind him and to the right was the taller man with the shield bracers. He was dressed in Beacon's student uniform which for a guy consisted of a black suit lined with gold, accompanied by a blue vest and a white shirt with a red tie. He didn't have his weapons on and looked really uncomfortable wearing the uniform. Despite his awkwardness, he gave Riley a small smile and nodded at her.

"Westley sit up!" chimed a female voice to the left of Westley, "Show the headmaster some respect! Take some lessons from Axel. He doesn't like the uniform either, but he still wears them because those are the rules. Right after this I'm making sure you're put into your school uniform."

"Is that a promise?" beamed Westley.

A growl responded and Riley turned to the source. She saw the redheaded girl sitting at a table to the left of the others. Like Axel, she was in proper dress code. She was wearing a red plaid skirt, stockings that stretched the length of her long legs, and a brown jacket with a tan vest and white shirt with a red ribbon tied at the collar. Her fuming expression while she was focused on Westley instantly shifted to a warm smile as she turned to Riley. In a pleasant voice she said, "Welcome. Please forgive Westley. He'll grow on you."

The faunus was all kinds of confused now. Looking for some sort of elaboration she repeated back, "Grow on me?"

Westley swung around into a normal sitting position and leaned back on the chair. He grinned at Ozpin and asked, "You want me to tell her or do you want the honors."

Riley looked to Ozpin for an explanation and found him smiling lightly at her, "As I said before Ms. Stynn, your performance in the Emerald Forest did not qualify you for any of the first year teams. Your destructive power and raw talent are more fit for a team situated with much more responsibility. Now I'm fully aware that you've met these individuals before, but allow me to properly introduce them. Riley Stynn meet Westley Fullbright, Pelyope Nacarat, and Axel Thulian."

As the introduction finished Westley rose from the chair and said with an even wider beam, "Welcome to team WNTR Riles."

Riley's jaw hit the floor. Her head did a number of alternations between the three upperclassmen and the headmaster. She eventually settled on Ozpin and blurted out, "What!? How on Remnant am I qualified for a second year team? I killed a few beowolves."

"And some Ursa and some creepers and some boarbatusks and a King Taijitu if memory serves," mumbled Westley.

Riley turned to Westley questioning, "How did you know that?"

He shrugged, "I was watching you while you were going through your initiation. Oz let me sit in."

The girl's head swiveled back to Ozpin who made no comment on Westley's statement. He did however explain, "Perhaps some clarification as to why I chose you is in order."

He took a moment to usher Riley further into the room and close the door behind them. When the door latched Ozpin moved over to the table and sat down across from Pelyope. He motioned for Riley to follow suit, but the faunus shook her head, "I'd rather be standing right now, thank you."

Ozpin took a sip from his mug and then began, "Well to start you found the crystal relic. It is a specialty relic I rarely implement. Whether it was fate or blind luck that you discovered it, I know not, but the act of finding it began you on your course to success. I ensured that the relic would be in an area of the forest that would present a challenge so great only one worthy of having it could claim it. That challenge was the Alpha Beowolf you defeated."

"But it was just an Alpha Beowolf," commented Riley, unconvinced, "Sure they're tougher than a regular Beowolf, but it's not too big a feat."

"For a common, Alpha, sure," Westley chuckled.

Ozpin reached into his black suit jacket and retrieved a scroll. He set it on the table and tapped a button. A holographic image sprang from the screen and floated in the air a few inches above the scroll. It looked to be some sort of profile and the subject matter was the Alpha Beowolf she'd killed.

"This Alpha was nicknamed the Huntsman Slayer and had been active for decades," Ozpin explained, "It was powerful and smart and resourceful. For the longest time it resided on the Isle of Patch and reigned supreme over the local Beowolf population. Many hunters had gone after it over the years, but none were ever truly successful. It killed a recorded 39 Huntsmen and escaped death many times that number. It eventually got to the point where I entrusted the task of slaying it to Westley and his team. And as I'm sure you remember, their penitent for destruction is…impressive. Even still, they were unable to actually kill it."

Westley scoffed and collapsed in the chair with a dismissive wave of his hand, "Maybe not, but we did kick it off Patch. And we thinned out the number of beowolves by, like, a lot."

He extended his hands out to each side in an attempt to illustrate the quantified value of his work. This drew a small chuckle from Axel and a look of disdain from Pelyope. Ozpin took Westley in stride and continued without addressing him, "It then migrated to the Emerald Forest and within weeks it had established dominance as the Alpha of Alphas. It's rule was unmatched. That is, until you arrived. In mere minutes you defeated a foe that had survived with the tenacity of a cockroach. You succeeded where everyone before you failed."

"But what if I hadn't found that piece? What if I hadn't run into the Alpha?" Riley inquired, the questions nagging at her.

Without skipping a beat Ozpin answered, "I would have failed your initiation. You didn't accomplish any of the primary directives given to you. Whether your combat performance was stellar or not, you would have flunked out."

The only thing that left Riley's mouth was a soft, "Oh…"

Ozpin shut down the scroll and placed it back in his jacket. He took another swig of his coffee and stated, "Well now that hopefully any doubts you may have had have been alleviated, I must explain some stipulations regarding your situation."

Still wrapping her head around everything, Riley simply nodded rather than offering a verbal response. And so Ozpin continued, "Effective immediately you are cleared for participation in full fledged missions. However, the final verdict on whether or not you accompany the rest of your team is dependant entirely on Mr. Fullbright's discretion."

The faunus turned to Westley who grinned at her and gave a short wave with his fingers.

"In the event a scheduled mission interferes with your class schedule, you will still be expected to complete your assignments on time. And speaking of classes, despite being assigned to a second year team and dorming with them, you will still attend first year courses alongside your peers. As I said before I see a large quantity of raw talent within you, but that still needs to be refined. Any questions?"

Riley shook her head, an act which brought a smile to Ozpin's face. He stood up and headed toward the door. He opened it to leave, but paused briefly. He looked back and Riley and said, "I expect a great deal from you Ms. Stynn. I have high hopes you won't disappoint. Good luck."


	7. Chapter 7

Author Note:

To anyone who had been reading this with interest and been discouraged at the absence of content, I want to apologize for the lack of updates. I ran into some real life issues that completely screwed up my schedule for posting and writing in general and by the time I had gotten another chapter written it had been over a month since my last update. I resolved at that point to simply finish out the first part of this story before posting and put it up all at once. So here it is. Chapters 7-13. The conclusion of RWBY Parallel Universe Volume 1. I hope everyone enjoys!

-Dagoron

Chapter 7

Riley slouched in her chair and yawned. It had been less than twenty four hours since she'd been assigned her team and the aftermath of that had left her drained. Her mind was still trying to cope with the fact that the headmaster of Beacon Academy thought she was talented enough to compare to students a full year ahead of her; whatever it was he saw, she most surely did not. That wracking of her mind had kept her up all evening, restlessness staving off a good night's sleep. Well that and Westley's snoring. Riley knew not how Pelyope and Axel slept through the thunderous snorting. It was unbearable.

Falling victim to another yawn, she glanced at the clock on the room. 08:55. Almost time for her first day of classes to start. Looking at the clock led to her looking around the room. It was a fairly big lecture hall, much larger than what she was used to at Signal. The rooms on Patch were set up as single rooms with scattered, individual desks. Beacon hosted chambers easily twice the size of the aforementioned classrooms and instead of desks there were four rows of seating, split into three sections, set up in a semicircle with each one moving back from the front slightly elevated to its predecessor. These rows could house a number of students, Riley guesstimated, equalling somewhere between twelve and twenty four depending on how tightly everyone was squeezing together. Right now the hall was sparsely filled; Riley noted there were only twelve people, not including her. All of them were the teams that had been formed the day before; teams CRDL, ROOK, and SOAP.

Team SOAP had taken up the second row in the middle section, team ROOK was seated in the far right section in the first row, team CRDL was in the last row of the far right section, and Riley was looking down at everyone from the farthest corner seat on the top row of the farthest left section. In addition to the teams she recognized, a few of the seats were filled with single students who didn't seem to have any team with them.

The rest of the room was only marginally more exciting. There was a red mahogany table with gold trim centered in the small lecture area reserved for the teachers; it was shaped in a half circle. On it rested a number of papers and a small globe. Behind the table on the wall were a number of diagrams depicting various types of Grimm and commentary on them; included were King Tajitu, Boarbatusks, Beowolves, Nevermores, and Death Stalkers. Professor Port, the professor she'd bulldozed, stood tall and proud on the ground level and was recounting some sort of story of his youth to the barely conscious team ROOK. Oliver and Oswin were paying attention as best they could while Krystal and Rigil were making no effort to stay focused. Riley was too tired to listen in and, frankly, she could care less. Her eyes started to droop as sleep once again beckoned her. Her exhaustion didn't hold her for long as mere seconds later the lecture hall doors were thrown open and a thunderous chorus of voices cried out, "WE'RE HERE! WE MADE IT ON TIME!"

Eight forms barreled in and collapsed on each other in a pile of limbs and torsos. Once Riley's soul, which had promptly vacated her body at the unexpected commotion, returned she noticed the source of her fright were teams RWBY and JNPR. Yang's head swiveled at the base of the pile and smiled at Riley, "Hey Riley!"

Riley let out a strained sigh and muttered, staving off yet another yawn, "Hi Yang."

At the bottom of the room, Professor Port looked from the group to the clock above the Grimm profiles and commented, his mustache hiding his mouth, but bobbing up and down in sync with his words, "You are correct, young ones! You are just in time for class to begin! Now take your seats and let's get to business."

Teams RWBY and JNPR shuffled quickly to their seats, RWBY sitting the front row of the center section and JNPR sitting behind them. Once they were situated, Professor Port moved to the center of the floor and cleared his throat loudly. He took in a deep breath and then bellowed, "Monsters! Deeeemons... Prowlers of the night! Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey! Ha-ha!"

Riley reflexively rolled her eyes at the over the top bravado and let her head fall onto her folded arms which were resting on countertop. Silence followed the professor's poor attempt at a joke and as this was obviously the best reaction he was going to get, it prompted him to continue on, "Uhhhh... And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy! Now, as I was saying: Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world! Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces! And that's where we come in. Huntsmen! Huntresses.."

Riley saw him give a "wink" at Yang who responded with an uncomfortable groan. This didn't seemed to deter Professor Port's demeanor at all though, "Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! From what, you ask? Why, the very world!"

An enthusiastic "Ayyyy-yep!" sounded from the far side of the room away from Riley and all heads swiveled toward the hyped up student. He looked briefly at the faces staring at him and then awkwardly sat back down in his seat. Professor Port cleared his throat and proceeded with, "That is what you are training to become. But first: A story. A tale of a young, handsome man... Me! When I was a boy..."

Riley stifled a low groan and her head dropped to her arms on the table. She left her head there for a moment before begrudgingly tilting it up and resting her chin where her forehead had just been. As she listened to the professor drone on and on about cabbages and his grandfather, snickering down below caught her attention. Ruby, Yang, and the girl in black the two had talked with the night before their initiation (Riley was pretty sure her name was Blake) were trying desperately not to burst out in laughter and when Riley saw the reason she too found herself hard pressed not to release a resounding bark. Ruby, with her 'incredible' drawing talent, had put together a crude assortment of shapes which came together to look like Professor Port. Instead of "Port", however, the word "Poop" was written. And Professor Poop was funny. Very funny.

"Ah-heh-hem!"

Professor Port had stopped nearby Team RWBY and was waiting until he had their attention. When all eyes were on him he began pacing again and finished, "In the end, the Beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity, and I returned to my village with the beast in captivity and my head held high, celebrated as a hero!"

The gentleman hunter took a bow and was greeted with absolute silence. He righted himself and explained, "The moral of this story? A true Huntsman must be honorable! A true Huntsman must be dependable! A true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise! So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"

Riley debated for half a second if she should pipe up with some sort of witty quip, but someone shouting down and front kept her from commenting.

"I do, sir!"

The Schnee heiress had her hand pointed straight up and was so rigid in her posture her arm could likely have been used to break rocks. She had a look of pure, unadulterated irritation on her visage and Riley was reminded of an expression she wore frequently on her own face when she was exposed too much to Yang's hyperactive side. As she exploded from her chair and strutted to the open area before her, Professor Port smiled (at least that's what Riley figured the edges of his beard raising a hair meant) and stated, "Well, then, let's find out!"

He motioned to the cage on the far left of the room and followed with, "Step forward, and face your opponent!"

Now Riley was interested. She watched as Weiss took up a position directly in front of the cage and readied her rapier. Riley heard Yang call out, "Goooo Weiss!"

Looking where her friend was, Riley noted Blake was waving a small little flag that had their team name emblazoned on it. The girl in black grinned and said encouragingly, "Fight well!"

Ruby was next in line with words of inspiritment, "Yeah, represent teeeeam RWBY!"

Riley found herself smiling. She had hopes that Ruby was going to be a good leader and even if she turned out to not be great at actual leading, she at least had the supportive part of it down.

"Ruby! I'm trying to focus!"

And Riley's smile was gone, replaced by a deep frown at Weiss' harsh response. The faunus saw Ruby's shoulders slump some and heard her answer back sheepishly, "Oh, um…sorry…"

Just who in the heck did that chick think she was? Snapping at Ruby when she was just trying to be friendly. Riley narrowed her eyes at Weiss, boring into the girl's soul, and muttered under her breath, "I hope you get eaten…"

Professor Port, who was now standing next to the cage, brandished what looked to be a large musket with some sort of axe head bayonet. He raised it over his head and bellowed, "Allllright! Let the match…begin!"

He swung the musket-axe down and destroyed the lock. The door exploded open instantly as the obvious form of a Boarbatusk charged into view, aiming for Weiss. Dodging to the side, she deflected the Grimm's charge off her rapier and readied herself for its next move. The Boarbatusk recovered quickly and began pacing, as if studying its target.

"Ha-ha! Wasn't expecting that, were you?" Professor Port laughed.

In response, Ruby's voice piped up, "Hang in there, Weiss!"

Weiss prepared her rapier and dashed forward toward the Boarbatusk. The Grimm turned its head at the last second and Weiss' weapon passed in between the creature's tusks without damaging it. A tussle between the two then ensued as Weiss tried to free her weapon from the creature's grasp.

Another hearty chortle escaped the professor's mouth and was followed with a snarky statement, "Bold new approach. I like it!"

Riley snickered as well, amused at how much trouble Weiss was having with the Grimm. Karma was not on the heiress' side and Riley was completely fine with that. Ruby, however, was still trying to be there for her teammate, "Come on, Weiss, show it who's boss!"

Weiss turned to glare at Ruby and in that moment lost her footing against the creature. It reared back and yanked the rapier from Weiss' grasp. The weapon soared through the air and clattered on the ground on the other side of the classroom.

"Oh-ho! Now what will you do without your weapon?" questioned Port calmly.

The Boarbatusk brought its head down and slammed into its foe. Weiss staggered back, momentarily dazed, but recovered just in time to dodge around it. She scrambled to her weapon and spun around to face the Boarbatusk as it realigned itself for another charge.

"Weiss! Go for its belly! There's no armor underneath-" cried out Ruby

Weiss cut her off and snapped, "Stop telling me what to do!"

Ruby flinched and her head drooped to look at her lap, obviously disheartened. Riley let out a low growl; that was the last straw. Weiss had made the list. Riley watched with narrowed eyes as Weiss formed some sort of white glyph in front of her as the Boarbatusk charged her. It impacted the shape and bounced off, stunned and turned upside down. Another white glyph formed in the air above her and she jumped toward it. She positioned herself on it and it immediately turned black. That change sent her flying at an angle toward the Grimm and she stabbed it in its belly before it could recover. It stayed still for a moment before dissolving it wisps of black smoke.

"Hmph."

Riley was really hoping she'd get eaten…

Port began to clap as the battle concluded, "Bravo! Bra-vo! It appears we are indeed in the presence of a true Huntress-in-training! I'm afraid that's all the time we have for today. Be sure to cover the assigned readings, and.. .stay vigilant! Class dismissed!"

Weiss cast one more glare at Ruby before storming up the stairs and out of the classroom. Riley waited until most everyone had left the room before leaving; she didn't want to risk running into Weiss in the halls. It probably would have ended in a fight and, as with Cardin, it would have been unwise for her to throw down with another student so soon into the semester. She was preparing to get up when movement appeared in her peripheral. Not expecting it, she jumped and her notebooks and pencils (which had not been used at all) clattered to the floor. Looking up with a scowl, her sour expression transformed into one of simple exasperation. She let out a sigh and began to pick up her things. As she did so she said to the smiling figure, "Oswin, you need to stop doing that…"

A light chuckle escaped Oswin's lips, "I'll try to make an effort."

She waited a moment until Riley was once again situated and then said, "I'm glad to see you in class today. After you weren't called to the stage yesterday, I was worried something had gone wrong."

"Yeah! What's up with that?! Why didn't you and your team get announced? And speaking of team, where's yours?"

Krystal's pink form popped into view behind Oswin and Riley felt a grimace brewing beneath the surface. She held it at bay, albeit barely, and answered, "Well…that's a little complicated."

A male voice piped up from behind Krystal, "Well that's not cryptic at all."

Craning her neck to see who had talked, she recognized the young man and his scent as the leader of Oswin's team. She was fairly certain his name was Rigil. Their eyes met and his curious expression dipped slightly into one of what Riley could only describe as disappointment. With a barely noticeable frown, he commented, "Oh. You're a faunus."

Riley's eyes narrowed and she questioned, "Is that a problem?"

Rigil shrugged and shook his head, "Not yet, no."

While her eyes remained scrutinizing Rigil for a moment, she caught a brief scowl appear on Oswin's face. It disappeared almost as soon as it had arrived, so Riley decided not to address it. Leaning back in her chair, she gave a huff and said, "And to answer your other questions, I'm not exactly on a normal team. Well I am on a _normal_ team, but it's not…"

She let out a sigh and just decided to say it rather than dance around the fact, "I'm with a group of second years."

Rigil's jaw dropped to the floor. Even Oswin looked shocked. Surprisingly, Krystal didn't seem phased. The girl in pink held up a finger and reached into her backpack. She pulled out a water bottle and began to take a sip from it. As she did that, a form moved into view from behind girl, temporarily distracting Riley from what Krystal was doing. It was a young man who looked more exhausted than Riley felt, a feat the faunus had previously felt was impossible. She recognized him as the last member of team ROOK, though his name eluded her. Her attention returned back to Krystal who, once she had a mouth full of water, performed a spit take with a rather impressive field of cover. This area of effect included the spot the tired looking man was standing in. He was hit full on by the blast, his body from the shoulders up dripping wet. This action was followed by the girl exclaiming at the top of her lungs, "WHAT?!"

"Oh Krystal, that was disgusting…"

Oswin's comment seemingly didn't reach her friend as Krystal continued unabated, "You got put on a second year team? How in Remnant did you manage that?!"

Riley cast a concerned glance at the young man, who was obviously trying his darndest not to gag, and responded to Krystal, "I don't know. Professor Ozpin said my performance was outstanding, but I'm not entirely convinced it was enough."

"What exactly did you do?" questioned Rigil.

"I killed some apparently powerful Alpha Beowolf. It was called the Hunstman Slayer or something like that."

This caught Oswin's attention. She tilted her and reaffirmed, "Did you just say the Huntsman Slayer?"

"Yes," Riley answered bluntly, wondering what had peaked Oswin's curiosity.

"My sister was part of a group a few years ago that had mustered together to try and kill a Grimm with that title," elaborated Oswin, "Four of the ten members were killed and the beast still got away. If this creature you slayed was the same one my sister faced then….I don't think Professor Ozpin's judgment was impaired. That is significantly impressive."

Silence followed Oswin's ratification of Riley's circumstances as everyone mulled over the young girl's words. This silence was summarily broken by Krystal who was obviously past talking about the "how come" of Riley's situation and now on the "who".

"So what's your team like? What are their names? Are they cool? Mean?"

She leaned in closer and said in what was probably supposed to be a whisper, but came out at a level that most everyone else would consider a person's normal inside voice, "Do they pour their milk into the bowl before their cereal?"

Krystal was yanked backwards by a less than content looking Oswin which was a welcome occurrence for Riley as Krystal was well within the faunus' personal space bubble and she didn't want to start swinging at the other girl with Oswin standing close by.

Realizing that she was 0 and 4 for interacting with people at Beacon without wanting to injure them in some capacity, Riley briefly entertained the idea of some sort of meditation training. Then she figured that since she hadn't snapped yet she was doing a good enough job. No need to take such drastic measures quite yet. Taking a deep breath to collect herself, Riley decided to just go ahead and answer Krystal's questions rather than risk incurring more badgering.

"I don't know exactly what they're like. I met them briefly yesterday and they walked me to our dorm room, but they had something to do and were still gone when I went to bed. Then they either hadn't gotten back yet or were gone when I got up. Haven't had enough to time to figure them out. Their names are Westley, who's our leader, and then Pelyope and Axel. I don't know if they're cool yet. I don't think they're mean. And I have no idea how to respond to that last question."

Krystal looked sufficiently appeased, if not a little disappointed with the lack of answer to her last question, and was obviously prepping for more questions, but Riley's attention was distracted by a scent appearing behind her. She turned and saw a young man she recognized as the ninja from the opening ceremony. He was dressed in the standard school uniform, but his eyes were as imposing as ever and he had retained the mask that was covering the bottom half of his face. Riley raised an eyebrow as he stared her down and asked, "Do you need something?"

In a cold voice he began responding, "Did I hear correctly that you were assigned to a second year-"

"Shen! I said I was going first!"

Hands appeared on Shen's shoulders and the ninja was forced down to a crouch as the girl with the black hair that had been on the same team came up behind him. She had an exasperated look on her face as she glowered at the struggling Shen, but it rapidly shifted into a confident looking smile as she looked to Riley. Holding down a struggling Shen with one hand she extended her other and said, "Name's Tifa. I hate to be too abrupt, but I have to know. You said someone on your team was named Pelyope?"

Riley looked at Tifa a moment, trying to decide how she felt about her. The faunus briefly had a horrifying flashback to her first encounter with Krystal and was hesitant to accept the handshake. However, she dismissed the memory quickly took the other girl's hand giving it a small shake. She then answered plainly, "Yeah. Why?"

Shen at this point was giving it his all trying to stand upright against Tifa's grip. She budged a little which then prompted her to swing her legs over him and sit on his shoulders. Shen drooped back down, a look of supreme irritation in his eyes as he said, "Tifa. Get. Off. Me. _Now_."

Tifa continued to look at Riley as she responded, "Nope. This is for cutting in front of me. And what's Pelyope's last name?"

Riley couldn't help but appreciate Tifa's handling of Shen. The ninja was already rubbing Riley the wrong way (not that she could quite put her finger on why other than she just didn't like him) and this was somewhat satisfying. Thinking about the situation front of her, Riley wondered if Oswin wished she could sometimes take care of Krystal as efficiently. Shaking her head she said to Tifa, "Not sure. I just met my teammates yesterday and haven't really talked to them. I think it started with an N?"

Tifa's eyes went wide as she blurted out, "Nacarat?!"

Recoiling just slightly at the burst of energy, Riley nodded vigorously, "Yeah. Nacarat. That sounds right."

Tifa let out a squeal of delight and began shaking her hands up and down in what Riley assumed was excitement. At the same time, Tifa's thighs closed around Shen's head tightly as her legs began mimicking her flailing arms. From the brilliant shade of blue the visible parts of Shen's face were rapidly becoming, Riley was pretty sure he was suffocating. The young woman jumped off her teammate, the force sending the ninja into the ground. She landed with a thud, ignoring the wheezing Shen, and squealed, "You're so lucky! On a team with _Pelyope Freaking Nacarat_!"

"You keep repeating that name like we should be impressed or something. I have no idea who that person is," commented a less than enthusiastic looking Rigil.

Tifa's blissful expression collapsed into a scowl as she answered, "Of course you don't know who she is. I doubt you follow the Remnant fighting scene as enthusiastically as I do."

Turning to Riley she began elaborating with a grin, "I _love_ fighting. I follow the charts of every kingdom and keep detailed accounts of all the major players. In case I ever meet them and get a chance to spar with them, of course. Nothing creepy."

"Sure," Riley said, trying to be as convincingly understanding as she could despite not entirely caring.

"Well as far as players from Mistral are concerned," continued Tifa, "Pelyope is at the absolute top. A freaking artisan of combat. A connoisseur of the blade and an aficionado of the bow. Since the beginning of her career, she is completely undefeated. Any challenger that has tried their hand against her has been summarily _CRUSHED_!"

Tifa slammed her fist into her hand to add emphasis to her statement. This action created a pause which Oswin took as the opportune moment to insert a question, "I apologize if I'm mistaken, but I was under the impression that the top fighter to come out of Mistral this generation was one Pyrrha Nikos. Is that incorrect?"

Tifa's expression soured at Oswin's inquiry and she gave a loud huff, "Officially, no. But that's only because Pyrrha got into the spotlight. Unlike her cousin, Pyrrha didn't shy away from the camera. Pelyope hates being the center of attention and doesn't make a habit of making a public spectacle of herself. She participates in local tournaments and the like, though never goes for the big stage. But you just have to take a look at their records. Pyrrha has an impressive resume clocking in 46 wins and 3 losses. Pelyope, however, has more than double the victories. 99 wins and 0 losses. She's one win away from triple digits and I'm so freaking _HYPE_!"

Her enthusiasm dimmed a little as she she continued on, "Though since she came to Beacon, she's kinda fallen off the grid. No chatter about her whatsoever since her acceptance. I guess she's been focusing on her studies more than fighting….BUT TRIPLE DIGITS Y'ALL!"

And the explosive ardor was back.

"I hope she hasn't reached it yet! I'll be super disappointed and super happy at the same time. I don't even know how that'll work! I'm just gonna-GAHHHH!"

Tifa began shaking in excitement again and, as she did so, Oswin asked another question, "Wait. So Pelyope and Pyrrha are related? The two top fighters from Mistral are family?"

"Huh?" Tifa stopped her enthusiastic jumping around and refocused on Oswin, "Are the two related? Yeah. Like I said, they're cousins. Their families are pretty close; they basically grew up together."

Oswin looked like she had another couple of questions to ask, but a voice sounded from nearby before she could speak, "Hey esteemed leader and lady who's actually gonna wind up leading our team, we're gonna be late to our next class. We should move it."

Riley looked up at the source of the voice and noticed the boy with long brown hair from the assembly. She couldn't quite remember what his name was. Day-something? Um….

"What did you just say, Nightlock?" growled Shen, who was rolling his shoulders in an effort to alleviate some of lingering pain in them.

Night not day. Close enough.

"Nothing your benevolence."

Nightlock then dipped back into the hallway and disappeared from view. Shen continued to glare at the doorway and Riley felt like, if left unchecked, he might continue to do so till the end of time. Fortunately (or unfortunately) Tifa grabbed Shen by the collar of his uniform and began carrying him the steps. He immediately began struggling, but couldn't quite get free. She dropped him just outside the door and gave him a shove, pushing him out of view. Tifa didn't follow right away. Instead she turned to Riley and team ROOK and gave a friendly wave. With a warm smile she bid farewell, "See you guys later! If you get a chance Riley, make sure to steer Pelyope in my direction; I need an autograph! Bye y'all!"

And she took off down the hallway.

Oswin was reciprocating the smile Tifa had sent to them, but it faltered some as she turned to Riley. Riley's face showed that the girl was very much deep in though. Her brow was crinkled, a heavy set frown rested on her lips, and her eyes were gazing down intently through the desks in front of her. Oswin slid over to her and placed a hand on Riley's shoulder, "Riley? Are you alright?"

Riley blinked her eyes, coming out of her trance, responded through a soft smile, "Yeah. I'm fine. You guys go on ahead. I'll catch up in a minute."

Oswin wasn't convinced, but as the rest of her team said their goodbyes and began heading out, she didn't have too much choice but to follow suit. Giving one last look to Riley, she rounded the corner and moved on. The moment Oswin was out of view Riley's forced smile dropped away. She had been conflicted about Ozpin's decision, but after what Tifa had said about Pelyope her doubt was in full force. If Pelyope was that amazing of a fighter, what did that mean for Westley and Axel? If those two were anywhere near the same skill level, how on earth could she compete? What was Ozpin thinking? How was Riley supposed to live up to their ridiculous reputations? She could accept that fact that she was above average and that the Grimm she killed was more powerful than normal, but being placed on a team that held one of the greatest fighters to come out of Mistral?

She gave a large exhale and slumped her shoulders. Gritting her teeth in frustration, she gathered up her things and began moving up the stairs with a huff. She was positive it was going to become very apparent that Ozpin had made a mistake. She was just hoping when that moment came it wouldn't end her career as a Huntress.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

"This. Food. Is…...Amazing!"

Krystal shoveled lunch into her mouth from a mound of food piled in front of her. As she did so, Rigil and Riley watched in a sort of morbid fascination much like one might view a train wreck. Oliver was completely indifferent, focusing on stabbing some peas with his fork, and Oswin simple released a sigh of resignation.

"Where do you put all of that?" questioned Rigil whose head was now looking from Krystal's mouth to Krystal's stomach.

Despite the volume of food the girl was inhaling, her small form remained petite with no signs of bulging out in one place or another.

"Mwu stmc hz aw bwk bx."

Coherent words refused to leave Krystal's lips as her mouth was stuffed to the brim. In response, Oswin translated and explained, "She said her stomach has a black box. She's been like this since we were children. She can pack away several pounds of food without gaining an ounce. Her metabolism is quite phenomenal."

She paused as she seemed to slip into thought. Nodding to herself, she commented, "I recall one time she devoured three gallons of ice cream. Lost five pounds."

"Huh…" was all Rigil responded with as he continued to watch the binge in front of him.

Riley looked from Krystal to her own plate and then to her own stomach. She'd had pork chops and mashed potatoes and peas and her normally flat belly had a small bulge in it; her food baby was in full effect. She pursed her lips and sucked her stomach in (an action that did little more than make it difficult for her to breath normally). Dissatisfied with the results, she gave up and looked back up at everyone just in time to see Oswin's tired expression devolve into a cross frown. Furrowing her brow, she said with uncommon irritation in her voice, "He's at it again…"

As Oswin wasn't looking in any particular direction, it took everyone a minute to figure out what she was referring to. On the other side of the cafeteria, Cardin Winchester was standing next to another student and seemingly tormenting her. She had long, brown hair and brown eyes. Cardin was tugging on a pair of tall rabbit ears similar in color to the girl's hair. As he did so, he laughed, "I told you it was real!"

Cardin's teammate Russel laughed with him and commented, "What a freak!"

An intense urge to leap across the cafeteria and begin strangling Cardin rapidly welled within Riley. She knew that Faunus didn't always have it easy and that a lot of people in the world thought of them as third rate citizens. But such blatant, racist behavior? Oh she was well past angry. Oswin seemed to take note of this rage as she rested a hand gently on Riley's thigh. Shaking her head, she said, "That would only cause trouble for you. I don't like it any more than you do, but please try to restrain yourself. It's only been a few weeks since we came to Beacon. It'd be a shame to lose a friend to something so ugly…"

Riley took in a number of deep breaths and managed to get to a point where she didn't want to instantly throttle Cardin. That was about as good as she was going to get. Then Rigil opened his mouth, "I don't know what you guys are making such a big deal about. He's not serious. Besides. She's a Faunus. I'm sure stuff like that happens all the time."

Riley and Oswin stared at him across the table. Clearing her throat, Riley questioned, "Excuse me?"

"You know. People wondering if the ears are real. That's a pretty blatant faunus trait for someone to have. People are probably wondering that all the time."

Riley set her lips, still slightly steamed at how he had worded his statement, but it was Oswin's turn to comment.

"Are you seriously defending Cardin? He's very clearly not joking around. He's bullying her."

Oswin's voice was abnormally harsh and loud compared to her normal manner of talking. Riley noticed this was something not missed by Krystal. Krystal looked between her three friends as frowns set into all of their faces and a pang of worry rang inside her stomach. She swallowed her mouth full of food hard as Rigil nodded to Oswin and responded, "Of course I'm defending him. He's my friend. And I know him. He's just messing around with her. He's not serious."

"You cannot honestly tell me that you think what Cardin is doing is anything other than bullying," snapped Oswin, "How are you standing up for him right now?"

As Oswin's voice grew louder, Rigil's answered in kind, "Why do you defend Krystal when someone bad mouths her about being hyperactive and having no knowledge of personal space?"

Rigil stopped facing Oswin for a brief moment to turn to Krystal (who was very obviously upset by Rigil and Oswin fighting) and elaborate, "I don't think that, Krys. I'm just using it as an example."

Krystal offered no verbal response, simply nodding silently. Rigil returned to Oswin who was very, very irritated. Riley was actually surprised at how steamed Oswin was getting. She'd never seen her like this before. Not addressing his counter question, Oswin barked, "Are you playing Cardin's behavior off because he's doing it to a Faunus?"

"What the heck is that supposed to mean?" growled Rigil lowly.

"Do you have a problem with Faunus?"

Riley nodded, "That's a fair question. First day I met you I got a pretty anti-Faunus vibe from you."

"What? No!" stammered Rigil, his eyes shifting from one girl to the other, "Well not exactly."

He let out a straight exhale and continued, "Look. I know there are good Faunus and bad Faunus out there just like there are good humans and bad humans. I don't have anything against the Faunus as a whole, but, and let's be real here, when it comes to violent crimes who do you see more often as the culprits? Faunus. No offense Riley."

"Some taken," stated a narrow eyed Riley.

"I'm not playing anything off because that girl is a Faunus," continued Rigil, "I might be more hesitant to trust a Faunus over a human on an individual level, but that plays absolutely no part in my defending Cardin. As I said before, he's my friend. Just because you think one thing of him doesn't change the history I have with him."

Clearly outnumbered by his opposition, Rigil looked to Oliver and said, "Oliver, back me up here. I'm right, right?"

Oliver, who had been watching the exchange with a rather emotionless expression on his face, shrugged and answered, "Don't ask me. I don't do people well."

Rigil let out a grunt of defeat which was followed by Oswin abruptly huffing and standing straight up. She grabbed her tray and promptly stormed off toward the cafeteria exit. Rigil threw his hands up in the air as Oswin left, agitated at her abandoning their argument rather than finishing it.

"What is her deal? I swear we've done more fighting recently than anything else. I thought she was really chill when we met during initiation."

"To be fair to Oswin," Riley said standing up with her own tray, "While I begrudgingly admit that you do have a point here and there, you can kind of be a jerk about pointing that out."

Riley then turned on her heels and began walking to find another place to finish her lunch. Rigil turned to Krystal who had been uncharacteristically quiet. When she realized he was looking at her, she fumbled for a sentence, "Um….I….I think I should go look for Oswin. She doesn't get mad often and she might need some help calming down. Sorry Rigil."

Krystal then proceeded to leave like the others. Turning one last time to Oliver, Rigil questioned, "What did I do wrong, dude?"

Oliver was once again stabbing at his peas. Without looking up from his tedious task, he answered, "As I said, Rigil, I'm the wrong person to ask. People are complex. I don't have any understanding of how they work."

Rigil rolled his eyes and slammed his head on the table, desperately wanting to find some sort of respite to the hostility.

* * *

Riley weaved in between streams of fellow students looking for another place to sit. She was finding it hard to come down from the irritation Rigil had instilled in her. Even as a Faunus, Riley knew he had at least somewhat of a point. The White Fang, who were commonly seen as the face of the Faunus race because of their size and prominence, had grown increasingly violent and were giving the masses a very poor image of the Faunus as a whole. He was right in that respect. Most of the crimes Riley had heard of on the news recently were instigated by Faunus who were members of the a White Fang. Riley could somewhat understand his distrust of certain Faunus. But the way he went about conveying his opinion was less than tactful.

And defending Cardin freaking Winchester? What in the heck was that about? Friendship or not, that guy was the textbook definition of a jerk. He was condescending, rude to those he arbitrarily deemed less than him, and very obviously thought Faunus were the inferior race. Defending the actions of such a person, as far as Riley was concerned, was just as bad as doing those things themselves. She let out a growl, her exasperation almost keeping her from hearing someone call her name.

"Riles!"

She recognized it instantly and turned in the direction the voice originated from. A few tables away Westley Fullbright, once again out of uniform, sat with the rest of Team WNTR and he was waving gleefully at her. He motioned for her to come over and she froze, unsure of how to respond. She'd had barely seen hide nor hair of her "team" since that first day after initiation, seemed to be actively trying to avoid her, and now they suddenly wanted to have lunch with her? This soured her mood even more. She was reaching the peak of what she could handle today without blowing up on someone. Riley debated just walking away, but there didn't seem to be any other free places to sit and from what little she had garnered about Westley's personality she seriously doubted he would take no as an answer. Begrudgingly she decided to answer his beckon and moved over to the table they were situated at.

Westley and Pelyope were sitting opposite Axel, their trays of food almost finished. Riley obliged the invitation from Axel, who softly patted the seat next to him, plopping her tray down on the table and giving a huff as she positioned herself next to her black haired teammate. The moment she was seated, Westley took note of Riley's disheveled demeanor and commented, "What's up Riles? You look a little down. Something eating at ya?"

Muttering under her breath, Riley answered, "Tsk. Now you want to know how I'm doing?"

Her statement didn't seem to faze Westley or Axel in the least, but Pelyope adopted a look of concern on her face.

"What do you mean?" questioned the warrior from Mistral.

Riley shook her head and looked down at what little remained of her food, "Nothing. Nevermind."

Silence followed briefly which she filled with poking at the food scraps in front of her. Westley didn't let the quiet last long, however. He leaned into the table and said, "Yo. If something is bugging you, spit it out. We're your team. If you can't talk to us, who can you talk to?"

"My team?" that got a sarcastic laugh out of Riley, "That's a hoot. You want me to tell you what's eating me? Fine. This is the first time since initiation that I've actually talked with _you_ in particular, Westley. I've tried to get you to stop snoring at night, but never get anything more than a grunt. That's the extent of our interactions. Axel has said hi in passing a couple times, but not much else. And the only real conversation I've had with anyone in this group is Pelyope when I told her that a classmate wanted her autograph. This-"

Riley extended her pointer finger and moved it around in a circle so that she pointed at everyone including herself, "Is not a team. We don't talk together, we don't have classes together, we don't see each other save for a few times here and there where we happen to pass by the halls. You three are a team. I'm just a letter."

"Riley, that's not-" started Pelyope.

Westley, however, interjected with, "Okay. So two things….One, I don't snore. Like at all. And two-"

He turned to Pelyope and asked, "Someone asked you for an autograph? Are you giving out autographs now? Because if you are I think I'm entitled to one at this poi-ACK!"

Westley spat out a strained vocalization as Pelyope's elbow jetted into his ribs. He doubled over and his head fell to the table. As he whimpered a little, Pelyope looked at Riley and repeated, "Riley, that's not true. You _are_ a member of this team. It's just…"

Her voice trailed off as she tried to find the right way to explain the situation. Before she could produce what she wanted to say, Westley's muffled voice came from the table, "Don't beat around the bush, Pelyope. She's right."

Westley slowly rose his head from the table and took in a deep breath, an action that seemed to cause him a decent amount of discomfort. Continuing, he looked dead into Riley's eyes and said, "You're not part of this team."

The curtness of the statement caught Riley off guard and she reflexively winced. She was used to being blunt herself and used to people being blunt with her, so it was rare that someone else got the better of her. Pelyope immediately turned her entire body toward Westley and hissed, "Westley! Why would you say-"

The Huntsman-in-training held up a hand to cut her off while he continued to look at Riley. He then carried on, "Not yet anyway. I want to make sure a point is very clear with you Riles. I'm going to be serious for a moment. Don't get used to it."

Westley cleared his throat and gained an intense look in his eyes Riley would expect from a seasoned huntsman and not a student. He then explained, "The position you've filled is one that has a tremendous amount of responsibility that comes with it. You _will_ be accountable for the lives of people around you much sooner than your friends. The instant you are truly a member of this team, you will be expected to be able to make hard decisions on the fly in impossible situations while protecting people around you incapable of doing so themselves. That is the level of responsibility you will have when you start accompanying us on the missions we partake in. Are you ready to take all that on?"

Riley set her jaw straight and narrowed her eyes at Westley without breaking contact. Giving a steadfast nod, she replied, "I wouldn't be here if I weren't ready. I was ready the second I stepped off the airship."

"Good answer!" Westley exclaimed suddenly with a loud clap of his hands.

The rapid shift in atmosphere gave Riley whiplash. She blinked at the now grinning Westley and then glanced at the other two. Axel wore a small smile on his face and Pelyope, while obviously not thrilled, no longer looked like she wanted to throttle her partner. Westley pursed his lips and said, "I do feel like I should apologize though. Like you said, the arrangement we have presently _isn't_ a team. I should have made it a point to try and be more involved with you. I just wanted to let you try and enjoy things here at Beacon before you got hit with the heavier stuff. I _have_ , however, been keeping an eye on you from a distance. You're doing way better in your classes than I expected to be honest."

"How do you know how I'm doing in my classes?"

Westley answered nonchalantly, "I talked to your teachers. Duh."

"If you wanted to know how I was doing, why didn't you just ask me?" questioned Riley.

Westley looked at her deadpan, "Did we not just have an entire conversation about me wanting to give you space so you could enjoy Beacon a little?"

Riley returned a similar look, an act that drew a smile from Axel. The quiet man next to Riley spoke up to agree with Westley, "You two are going to get along great. And Westley's right; you certainly turned things around your senior year at Signal, but these last few weeks at Beacon are definitely the highest point in your academic career."

Riley was about to thank him for the compliment when a thought occurred to her, "Wait a second. I appreciate the praise, but how exactly do you know how I did back at Signal?"

"Uh…." Axel released a nervous chuckle.

"I looked at your file and told them," Westley explained, "I tried to show them, but they didn't want to for some reason."

"Maybe because it's private information that you shouldn't be looking at?" growled Riley, getting angry at the invasion of privacy.

"Hmmmmm…" hummed a smug looking Pelyope, "That's exactly what I said."

"Oh come on," Westley began, "I needed to make sure you were up to par!"

"And my performance in the Emerald Forest wasn't enough? It was obviously enough for Professor Ozpin."

"Well-"

"And how on Remnant did you even get my file?"

A now sheepish looking Westley murmured, "I may or may not have sneaked a peak late one evening."

Riley's voice was at full shout now, "ARE YOU SERIOUS?!"

Axel placed a hand on Riley's shoulder both in an attempt to convey comfort as well as hold her back so she couldn't leap across the table and said in a sort of defeated voice, "Unfortunately yes, he is. He has issues when it comes to personal privacy. I don't think anyone is safe. If it makes you feel any better he _was_ reprimanded."

Riley resolved to glare menacingly at her team leader. Silence followed and with each passing second, Westley was obviously becoming more and more uncomfortable as Riley stared him down. Finally reaching a point of unease that was unbearable, Westley groaned and threw his hands up in the air startling Pelyope. Slamming his fists on the table, he said loudly, "Fine! I'll admit it might have been a _tad_ rude to read your file without your permission. I'm not apologizing though…"

Riley opened her mouth, not entirely satisfied with Westley's response, but found herself stopped by Axel shaking his head. Releasing a sigh, Riley surmised this was as good as she was going to get. Clearing his throat, Westley continued talking, "I suppose I should try an offer an olive branch. What can I do, other than apologize, to make up for this _completely_ understandable, if not slightly misguided, infraction?"

Without skipping a beat, Riley suggested, "Let me read your file."

This drew a loud bark of laughter from Westley. The laughter continued for a solid minute and Riley pouted, silently staring at him until his cackling died down. Westley wiped a tear away from his eye and said, still chuckling, "Absolutely not."

"Why not?! That would make us even!"

"How about we give you the highlights?" offered Axel in an attempt to diffuse what was obviously going to rapidly become another shouting match.

"Yes!" clapped Westley, "That sounds perfect! We can tell you an abridged version of our backgrounds! It'll be just like that word we went over in language studies. What was it Pel?"

He started snapping his fingers at Pelyope as he began racking his brain to find the word he was searching for. The huntress-in-training looked at him deadpan before releasing a sigh and answering, "Exposition?"

Westley clapped again and exclaimed, "Yes! Exposition! It'll be like we're characters in Riley's story and are filling her in on information that's mildly relevant for our growth as characters!"

This drew a stony look from both Riley _and_ Pelyope. Deciding she doubted Westley would budge on letting her read his file, she rolled her eyes and gave in with a huff, "Fine."

Westley, clearly excited about the group's decided course, started things off without waiting for Pelyope or Axel, "Well I was born in a modest settlement north of Vale called Ravenholm. Grew up without parents, but I think I turned out fine regardless!"

Axel chuckled at the comment, Pelyope and Riley scoffed in unison.

"Ever since I was young I knew deep within me lay greatness!"

Westley stood and propped one leg up on his seat as he struck a "galant" pose.

"The only possible course I could have chosen was to become a huntsman! And so I have followed that path. My foster dad set me up at Signal in preparation for Beacon and that's where I met the ever stoic Axel! We've been getting into trouble ever since!"

Riley cocked her head to the side, "Wait. You guys went to Signal? I don't remember you."

"Well duh. We were a year ahead of you. We don't remember you either. Signal, while small compared to Beacon, still had a bunch of students. No one knows everyone," explained Westley.

"Plus our junior and senior years were spent mostly either in detention or supplementary courses," added a depressed looking Axel, "He wasn't kidding about the trouble."

Riley had a sneaking suspicion that Axel had never voluntarily gotten into the messes Westley apparently got into.

"After Signal came Beacon," continued Westley without delay, "Where I have gone above and beyond the call of duty in my role as team leader! Heck! In my first year I saved your butt from the Huntsman Slayer!"

Westley beamed at Riley as he concluded his story. She did her best to continue to look unimpressed. She was starting to understand why you should never meet someone you once idolized. More often than not, instead of a gallant warrior you get…well whatever Westley was.

When she had first been assigned to the team, she had had to overcome some mild shock at being paired alongside the people who had saved her; it was part of the reason she was so skeptical of Professor Ozpin's decision. After a few days of virtually no interaction with them they faded a little bit into mysticism once more. But then, as more time went on without her feeling like part of the team, her wonder of them shifted to resentment. Which she felt dissipating as the conversation she was having continued, but nevertheless this shift in opinion of them toppled the pedestals that she had perched them up on. Pelyope was the closest to what she had imagined and Axel was quieter. Westley was the complete opposite. Then there was-

"Wait a second," Riley started, "There's something I've been meaning to ask you guys. What happened to your other teammate? The faunus."

Pelyope and Axel's demeanor diminished drastically in response to Riley's question, something that was very off putting to the huntress-in-training. She hadn't expected that sort of extreme reaction. Westley held up better, but the slight droop in his jovial nature was apparent. Still smiling somewhat Westley answered her in a quieter tone, "That's a story better suited for when we aren't in the cafeteria. What _is_ a cafeteria suited story is Axel's background. Give it to her Ax!"

Westley rapidly regained his previous composure and pointed from Axel to Riley in an over the top fashion. Westley's rebound seemed to bleed over to the other two who returned their normal selves. Riley made a mental note to come back to her question and allowed the others to slide by without her pestering them about it. She was already running every possible answer to her question inside her mind, some obviously more unfortunate than others, but she wasn't sure where to begin with discerning the proper one; that would have to wait until later.

Axel let out a sigh and nodded, "Okay then. Um…let's see. I was born in the Atlesian capital, but my mother moved me to Vale after my father passed away in a work accident; the rent was way more affordable here as a single mom. I was about ten. I took the role of man of the house very seriously, still do, and, if I'm being perfectly honest, that's probably the actual reason I've become a Huntsman. Can't be the man of the house if you can protect or support it."

He chuckled to himself before continuing and Riley found herself hiding a smile. 'Axel the Family Man'. It wouldn't have been one of the first suppositions she'd have formulated regarding the young man based on his stalwart appearance.

"My mother wasn't super thrilled with the idea, but she conceded eventually and enrolled me at Signal when I was old enough. Met Westley the first day I was there and he's been getting me into trouble ever since."

Westley let out a gasp of faux shock, "Axel Crispin, I'm appalled at the insinuation that _I_ single handedly got you into trouble. You were quite the rebel your-"

The sentence was cut short as Westley fell into a bout of laughter. Wiping a nonexistent tear from his eye he followed with, "I couldn't keep a straight face. Darn."

He turned to Riley and explained, "Axel is all for the rules. Not quite as much as Pelyope over here, but close to it. He's a good sport though."

Axel cleared his throat, ignored Westley, and finished, "After I graduated Signal, I obviously came to Beacon. I was a little worried about leaving my mom alone, but fortunately she met another man, Cliff, who loves her almost as much as I do. I also lucked out because I've recently become a big brother to a very special little girl, Cana."

"Who we still haven't properly met," stated a pouting Pelyope, "I expect introductions soon."

Axel chuckled, "Soon. I promise."

As he concluded, Riley found her eyes drawn to Pelyope as she waited for her female teammate to do her part. Pelyope gave Riley a sweet smile and said, "I suppose it's my turn. You seem to know a little bit more about me than my fellows, so I'll keep this brief. I was raised in Mistral. Both sides of my family were renowned for their hunstmanship and I similarly fell in love with the profession. I trained hard, studied night and day, and when given the opportunity to pick where I continued my post-intermediary studies I chose the one considered the strongest of all the academies. I was accepted and placed on a team with Westley and Axel. I've been doing my best to keep them, or rather specifically Westley, out of trouble ever since."

Pelyope cast a narrow eyed stare at Westley who responded with a wide grin and wave of his fingers. Maintaining his smile, Westley turned away from Pelyope and directed his question to Riley, "So how would you rate your satisfaction?"

The faunus studied Westley a moment, debating her answer, and finally settled on, "Satisfied."

Westley let out a bark of laughter and pumped his fist outward, "Keeping up my 100% satisfaction rating with the ladies!"

"Well that's just blatantly false," said Pelyope immediately.

As Westley promptly began arguing his statistics with an ever skeptical Pelyope, Riley felt a snicker escape her lips. She wasn't thrilled at Westley's personality, but she found herself amused at the back and forths he and Pelyope often took part in. She looked down at her tray and absent-mindedly began prodding what little was left of her food, smile still attached to her face. Axel playfully nudged her to get her attention and commented quietly, "I'm glad to see you can smile. That scowl you like to wear doesn't suit you as much."

Riley found herself chuckling a little.

"The scowl _is_ easier to put on though," her smirk faded, "And my smiles are reserved for moments that deserve them. It'd get worn out if I put it on all the time."

"Well then count me honored that the three of us are worthy of one of your smiles."

Axel lightly beaming at the faunus drew another smile from her. She nodded, "Mmm…"

"Hey Riles."

Riley turned to Westley as he called for her attention. When he had it he continued, "Lunch is about over and I wanted to leave you with something. Don't worry too much about not feeling like part of the team anymore. Hang in there a little longer, okay? I've got a notion that your time in the limelight is coming."

He then stood, his brown duster falling from under him to sweep the floor at his feet, and picked up his tray; Pelyope and Axel followed suit. The two of them bid her farewell and went off to dispose of their food scraps and tray. Westley remained behind, however, to say one last thing to his teammate before leaving.

"Be ready, Riles. I meant what I said. You'll find yourself called to action probably much sooner rather than later. I don't want to be disappointed with everything I've seen from you thus far."

"It wasn't in my plans to do so," Riley answered confidently.

Westley laughed and said, "Fantastic! I love macho answers."

He then turned, still chuckling to himself some, and raised up a hand to wave. Riley watched him as he departed until he disappeared from sight into the crowd of students shuffling to clean up their lunch mess. She debated following his scent, but let him slip away from her nose. Taking a deep breath, Riley exhaled sharply. Perhaps now her tenure at Beacon would feel whole. For the moment, though, she was going to have to tough it out like Westley asked her to. She still had a long road ahead of her before graduation and the faunus now believed she was ready for any challenges that rose along her path.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Riley once again found herself sitting in the back row of her classroom. It had been several days since her talk with the rest of her team in the cafeteria and she was getting antsy. Westley had said she'd be called by them sooner rather than later and while 'soon' didn't have an exact value, she prayed that it would be days and not weeks. In an effort to distract herself, she surveyed her present classroom. The layout was virtually identical to Professor Port's room; three sections of seating divided into four rows, dull gainsboro walls that disappeared into slate colored panels, and a centralized desk which seemed to only be there for decoration as the teachers at Beacon refused to get behind them while they taught. Taking the place of diagrams of varying Grimm were maps aplenty: world maps, city maps, local maps, foreign maps. Additionally, while Professor Port's desk was certainly messy, the desk sitting in front of Riley was on a whole other level. Mountains of paperwork lay strewn in disorganized piles both on the desk and beside it. Books galore, some opened, some closed, rested intermittently amongst the sea of parchment and, additionally, writing utensils were cast everywhere.

Standing taut before the class was a tall, stick thin man. Messy green hair adorned his head and beady brown eyes darted back and forth amongst the class taking in every detail of his students. Much more disheveled looking than one would expect a teacher, his white shirt was only partially tucked into his dark-green pants and its collar raised showing a slack yellow tie along with mismatched brown and black shoes.

Professor Bartholomew Oobleck took a long swig from a porcelain cup and then gently set it down. That was as calm as things would be for the remainder of the class. Disappearing into a blur, Professor Oobleck vanished from Riley's vision and was suddenly behind the desk. Papers flew into the air, but he paid them no mind. With significantly more vigor than one would attribute to a man with his appearance, the teacher rapidly began talking, "As far back as recorded history goes, the Faunus have consistently been at the center of political interest on Remnant. Sometimes they are approached beneficently by groups looking to include them as equals in society while other times their presence has been decidedly more violent. Regardless of the circumstances, however, it is important to have knowledge about your brothers and sisters amongst the faunus and how they have affected the history of Remnant. As such…"

Riley released a sigh and leaned back into her chair as Professor Oobleck began recounting the history of the Faunus. Riley already knew most of what he was talking about. She wasn't the biggest fan of school, history and language studies specifically, but when most of her early life had been littered with prejudice and violence she'd found at least some comfort in knowing her heritage through her people. She had spent a lot of time reading up on the topic as she tried to make heads or tails of the situations she'd been in and while she certainly learned a lot about her people, she had long since stopped trying to understand the blatant hate seeded throughout the world directed at the Faunus. It was in this mindset that she halfway understood how Rigil felt. Just like he said, as there were good and bad Faunus on Remnant, so too were there good and bad humans. Not everyone hated the Faunus, but there were plenty of people who would be more than happy to see the entire race disappear. And Riley was through trying to understand those people. She couldn't fathom the idea of hating someone simply because they were a different species. Truth be told whenever she tried to think about it her head started hurting. Like it was at this very moment.

She moved her fingers up to her temples and tried to alleviate the growing pain, but found there was no need as she was suddenly distracted from it by a knock on the door to the classroom. Riley, as well as the rest of the class, turned to see who had interrupted their lesson. She had caught his scent seconds before she actually laid eyes on him and she had to suppress a reflexive gasp at the revelation of who it was.

"Ah!" stated Professor Oobleck, "Mr. Fullbright! What brings you to my class this morning? You're not scheduled until later this afternoon!"

"I'm just here to pick up Riley," Westley explained with a wide grin. He was once again out of uniform, but Professor Oobleck didn't seem to mind or if he did, he didn't say anything.

"We've got a mission and I need her to tag along," Westley finished.

Riley's heart leapt into her throat. A mission? She was finally going to work with the rest of her team?

Professor Oobleck nodded quickly, "I see. Very well then. You know the drill. But for you, Ms. Stynn!"

She shook her head to clear her thoughts and focused on her teached.

"I do believe this will be your first mission whilst attending courses. As such I mean to make this perfectly clear. I will be forwarding all of your classwork and homework to your scroll and will expect it complete and ready to turn in the day after you get back. No exception!"

"Understood," Riley answered, already gathering up her books and papers, doing her best not to appear too excited.

She didn't seem to fool the professor as he cast a small smile along with, "Be safe you two. And remember...have fun!"

Westley gave a wave to Professor Oobleck as well as the attentive looking class who were looking at the scene with interest. He then moved out of Riley's way so she could get into the hall. Riley gave a quick nod to the professor before heading to the door to meet Westley doing her best to avoid eye contact with the intrusive looks of her peers. Professor Oobleck's voice carried into the hallway for a brief moment before the door was completely shut, "Now where was I…? Ah! This was prior to the Faunus Rights Revolution, more popularly known as The Faunus War! Humankind was quite, quite adamant about centralizing Faunus…"

The door closed and Riley found herself in silence with Westley smiling at her. Instantly uncomfortable, she attempted to alleviate the quiet by asking, "So we have a mission? Where too? What is it?"

Westley chuckled, "Yes we have a mission and you'll have to wait on the details until we're with the others. Might as well make sure everyone is completely up to date at the same time."

Westley maintained his smile, but his face was directed straight ahead, not looking at Riley at all. The rest of the walk fell into silence as Westley didn't offer any conversation and Riley was too focused on mentally preparing herself for whatever situation she could possibly be walking into to say anything. When Westley stopped walking, Riley noticed they were standing outside of the room where she had first met the rest of WNTR. She looked at Westley and asked, "This room again? Why here?"

"I guess you could say it's a kind of meeting space for teams to use prior to leaving for missions," Westley explained as he opened the door and headed inside, "Though since not a lot of other students make use of it, I suppose it's more of team WNTR's clubhouse. Yeah...that's more accurate."

The room was largely the same as when she had first been there: a faded blue armchair sat unused in on the right hand corner of the average sized room, a large square table filled up most of the left side of the room, and a couple of TVs lined the walls. Aside from the overhead light and what looked to be a small mini fridge tucked behind the table, not much else was present inside. Pelyope and Axel excluded, of course. Both were seated at the table opposite each other and still dressed in their school uniforms. Westley strode to the far end of the table and flipped the chair around before flopping down on it. He crossed his arms along the top rail of his seat and wagged his fingers indicating for Riley to follow suit. She did so with only minor reluctance.

"So," began Westley, "Normally you'd have been with us when we picked out a mission, but conflicting schedules prevented that. On to the mission details! Axel! Take it away!"

Westley dramatically waved his arms through the air before letting them rest in a pointing position aimed at Axel. Smiling, the young man nodded and began, "Fairly straight forward. A railway that runs out of Forever Fall has recently found itself constantly being harassed. In lieu of this, our team is being sent to ensure that an upcoming train remains unmolested."

Despite Axel explaining how the mission was supposed to be straight forward, Riley felt a pang of confusion arise within her when he mentioned exactly what it was they would be doing. He wasn't specific in what exactly was causing problems for the railway and while she normally wouldn't think anything of it, the location they were embarking to set off a number of red flags. She couldn't be sure it was the same one, but the only railroad she'd heard of having continuous issues within Forever Fall was one that was prone to heists from the White Fang. Sure the forest was filled with Grimm and the creatures of darkness could very well be what they were going there to protect the train from, but if it turned out to be the White Fang that would raise all sorts of questions. Namely, why would a bunch of students be sent to protect a cargo train from belligerent Faunus? That was definitely more a mission for the police or maybe even full fledged Huntsmen if law enforcement were unable to do anything. But it certainly wasn't something mere _students_ would be directed to handle.

Deciding to try and set her mind at ease, she decided to inquire for more details, "What exactly are we going to be facing? Do we know what's been making trouble for the railway?"

No one immediately answered her questions. It took a couple seconds before Westley answered, "Probably Grimm."

"So we're going to be keeping the station safe from Grimm? That's all?"

He pursed his lips and directed his eyes toward the ceiling as he gave an affirmative hum and responded, "Grimm are definitely a problem in the area."

Riley narrowed her eyes at her leader, completely aware of the intentional indirectness of his answers. She cut a glance to her other teammates, but found they were poor sources for any sort of contradictory responses; neither offered anything to the contrary nor did their faces lend to any sort of uncomfortable feelings with what Westley was saying.

The Faunus gave a huff, but chose to drop it for the time being. She knew she was prone to being suspicious of others because of her upbringing and resolved it was something that was unwarranted in this scenario. She had no reason to distrust anything she was told thus far. In fact, she should be ecstatic at finally being included in the goings on of her team after so long. She was probably just overreacting and overthinking things. Nodding she asked, "When are we leaving?"

"Thirty minutes," Pelyope said, "We need to get our combat gear together and then we'll head to the landing pad. A Bullhead will then take us to the main station within the forest."

As she finished speaking, she scooted her chair back and stood. Axel and Westley followed suit which prompted Riley to do the same. Heading toward the door, Westley shot Riley a grin and said, "I hope you're ready! The real stuff starts now."

* * *

Riley sat on top of an overhang that covered the work area below. It was connected to a wide steel wall that blocked the crimson leaved forest on one side. Under the overhang were several dozen crates of varying sizes with a small handful of workers buzzing about confirming shipment invoice numbers, ensuring the organization of the aforementioned crates are kept up, and otherwise tidying up. The faunus rotated her head and took in the entire facility.

Her team had left the previous afternoon and flown out to a refueling center deep within Forever Fall, a forest dominated with trees bearing a distinct red colored leaf (thus the name of the forest). An incoming train was to restock its fuel and get the last of its shipment before heading out toward the coastal city of Freemont where its payload would be sent overseas to Atlas. The station was fairly massive. Several hundred meters of steel were built into and around the sea of large trees that sat on either side of the railway and formed a sort of 'L' shape. The shorter stretch of platform held the main facility, a three story box of a building where shipments were checked in and the primary fuel center was. The longer side of the 'L' was where all the crates were stored. Two overhangs with similar setups to Riley's divided the platform into three sections. WNTR had split itself up to cover the entire area. Riley had the farthest section, Westley had the section next to hers, Pelyope was guarding the section after that, and Axel was covering the main building. They were set to converge on the train after it docked and would ride with it the rest of the way to its destination. Once it safely arrived they would be flown back to Beacon.

Riley had been sitting on the overhang for several hours and she was bored and she had long since lost feeling in her butt. Deciding she needed to walk around, she jumped to her feet and began pacing on the overhang. Everything had been quiet up to this point and, honestly, she felt that this mission was going to be completely uneventful. A nearby horn sounding drew her attention toward the east. From her particular vantage point she could just barely make out the black shape of the train approaching. It rapidly flew down the track toward the facility and when it was only several hundred feet from the main building it finally began slowing its descent. The train stretched the entire length of the refueling center and then some. The pilot was one full car length in front of the platform and the caboose was still hidden slightly by woods. Workers immediately began loading what needed to be loaded onto the train and others began the refueling process. The entire procedure took approximately twenty minutes and when it was nearing completely Riley moved to activate her com so that she could ask Westley what exactly came next, but a sudden explosion interrupted her. The blast rocked the entire station and staggered Riley. The nearby trees rocked back and forth from the pressure wave and Riley looked for the source.

Closer to Westley's section smoke was billowing into the air and a fire was slowly spreading through the crates. Riley squinted her eyes to try and get a better look at what had caused the explosion, trying to identify exactly what kind of Grimm it was. Figures quickly became apparent through the smoke and when she recognized what they were her stomach dropped a little. While their faces certainly gave the monstrous facade of the creatures of darkness, what was attacking the station was definitely not.

It was the White Fang.

Immediately opening her com line, Riley half shouted, "Westley! It's the White Fang! Did you know about this? What exactly are we supposed to do?"

Westley's voice came back without much pause, "Yes I knew about the White Fang. Does it matter?"

"Of course it matters!" Riley shot back, "If you knew they were the main threat why didn't you tell me? Why are we fighting them? I know they're bad, but-"

Her leader cut her off, a surprisingly serious tone lacing his words, "Riley. Focus. People are in danger down below you. I will give you an explanation when we're back at Beacon. For now….shut up and fight."

While the click when he disconnected wasn't out of the norm, Riley still flinched as if a door had been slammed in her face. Growing irritated at the realization Westley _had_ in fact known about the White Fang and _had_ purposefully kept the information from her, Riley grit her teeth. Before she could get any angrier, shots and screams from down below stole her attention. Members of the White Fang had migrated from their entry point to her section. Workers were fleeing in every direction trying to avoid the gunfire. Westley's words rang in her head as she surveyed the scene and she decided to focus her displeasure at the White Fang for the time being. She wasn't worried that she'd waste it all on them; she knew she had plenty to spare.

A male worker below tripped over himself and collapsed to the ground. Three White Fang troops came to a stop a couple feet away and leveled automatic weapons at him. Riley bent into a crouch and dashed toward the scene. As she rapidly crossed the distance, adrenaline began coursing through her veins and, in response, everything going on entered into a kind of slow motion from Riley's perspective. She touched down in front of the man, standing between him and the enemy, just as the White Fang soldiers were opening fire. She removed Aoide's Song from the strap on her waist and allowed it to unfurl to its full form minus the blade usually on its edge. The muzzle flash from the enemies' weapons was a bright white and yellow. As the bullets poured from the barrel of the guns, Riley could almost perceive the ripples of air emanating from them as they pushed through the air. The muscles in her arms flexed as she swung the guitar to intercept all of the incoming projectiles approaching her. Using the wide side of the stratocaster, she swatted every single bullet fired out of the air and redirected them to the sides where no one would get hurt.

The White Fang members ceased their fire when they noticed it wasn't making it to its mark and one of them laughed.

"What the heck? Is that a kid? What's she doing here?"

Riley's eyes twitched at the blatant dismissal of her presence because of her looks. Did they _not_ just see her make all of their firearms moot? The faunus turned to the worker who was now cowering behind her and said in a hiss, "Get out of here. Now."

He very quickly nodded and scrambled to his feet, tearing out of there and toward an exit. She turned back to the White Fang soldiers who continued to grin at her, obviously not finding her a threat. A second one commented, "How about you just move right on along, girly? You're a Faunus so we'll cut you some slack this once."

Yep. This conversation was over. As the three laughed again, Riley flashed forward. Not expecting the sudden attack, all of them were caught off guard. Riley swung her guitar with all her strength and caught the center White Fang in the head with the curved edge of her weapon. The force of the blow carried the man into the air and subsequently sent him flying. His body rocketed over the train and disappeared behind it. His scream, while loud at first, quickly diminished as he left everyone's sight. There were gasps and cursing that came from the other two and they tried to ready their weapons, but it was all for naught. Riley's attack didn't halt when she finished with the first opponent. She pushed off the ground to the right and shoved the bottom of her guitar into the second victim's diaphragm. All the air left his lungs in a loud "Oof!" and he rocketed backward into some crates which fell on top of and buried him. The final soldier didn't manage to aim, but did succeed in firing blindly at Riley's form. In response Riley brought her guitar in front of herself and strummed the strings. The musical chord played and the ensuing soundwave not only stopped the bullets mid flight, but sent them back to their owner. The bullets all impacted him and the wave of sound followed through, throwing him several hundred feet back into Westley's section. Her attack knocked over several crates and revealed a group of about ten more White Fang members all looking at the scene with confusion and hesitation.

Riley stood straight up and flicked her head to shift some hair out of her eyes, releasing a sigh. Just ten? If the skill level of the other three was any indication, this wasn't going to take long. She shrugged to herself; it looked like the White Fang was employing the combat doctrine of quantity over quality. Oh well. Lucky for her, unlucky for the idiots who were adding to her headache.

"Uh…..GET HER!"

It looked like they had finally rallied. All ten of them rushed her. One in the front reached her before the others and took a swing at her with his fists. Way too slow. Riley ducked under the attack and moved past his right while simultaneously throwing her own punch with her left hand. It caught the man square in the stomach and he doubled over. She moved in front of the first attacker's back and placed her guitar, thin side pointing up between his legs. As a second opponent moved to enter melee combat with Riley, she quickly brought her guitar up, catching the first man in the crotch (an action that drew a pained squeak) and carried him upwards in an over head swing. Riley slammed his body into the second man and the two went down in a heap. She then decided to cross the distance between the remaining members herself so that they lost any chance of controlling the battlefield.

Two White Fang soldiers were rushing to meet her and standing roughly right next to each other. Riley ceased her sprint for a fraction of a second as she pulled the guitar over her shoulder and with one had threw it at the right hand assailant. As soon as the stratocaster left her hand, she leapt into the air. The guitar, spinning end over end, hit its target square in the face, the momentum knocking him flat on his back and leaving the weapon floating in the air for a fraction of a second as gravity began working on dragging it down. Almost simultaneously Riley landed on her other opponent, knees on his shoulders, and she gripped his head with her thighs. Snatching Aoide's Song out of the air she fell forward, bringing her victim with her, and landed on one hand. She whipped her legs forward throwing the man into the rest of the group; they went down in a tangle of arms and legs like bowling pins. Riley did a small flip to right herself and, as she landed, aimed her guitar at the pile while strumming her guitar. The entire group was blasted into the air and, like the first White Fang trooper, disappeared behind the train. She took a few breaths and looked around.

There was obviously more fighting further down, but her side looked clear for the moment. She moved her hand to her ear and noted as such, "I just finished fighting. Who needs help? West side is cle-"

She stopped mid sentence as her wandering eyes fell on another figure. Her heart skipped a beat as she through it was some sort of actual Grimm. She let out a sigh of relief as she realized from the waving of his clothing in the wind that it was just a man in some sort of cloak wearing a mask. While she was sure he wasn't a Grimm, his appearance still drew hard on her flight or fight response; she felt an overwhelming urge to back away…and quickly. He was tall, even from a distance Riley could tell that he stood at least a full head over her. His form was thin, almost gaunt based on how lean he looked even with the cloak over him. Speaking of the cloak, it too was unsettling. There didn't seem to be any sort of visible break in the center indicating it could come apart and where the cloth touch the ground the fabric seemed more akin murky water than cotton or the like. But the most disturbing aspect of the get up was the mask. Completely covering his face, it was in the shape of a ram's skull. Two tan colored horns curled into a spiral from the sides of the skull and two blank eye sockets stared at Riley like bottomless pits where no light could reach.

Speaking into her com she corrected, "Wait a second. There's one more guy here. I'll handle him and-"

The train suddenly released blaring honk as it sprang to life and began moving down the track. Obviously it wasn't planning on sticking around and risking any sort of boarding. As it started picking up speed, the man in the ram mask leapt into the air and landed on the top of the train. Cursing, Riley dashed after him and shouted, "Crap! The guy jumped on the train! I'm going after him!"

Westley's voice answered almost immediately, "Riley hold on. I'm almost finished here. Wait to regroup. If you get on the train now I might not be able to back you-"

Riley clicked the com off.

They had a mission to do and there wasn't any time to wait. Not to mention she was still livid with him for withholding pertinent information on purpose. Plus, while the man's appearance was off putting, if he was anything like the other White Fang soldiers she'd fought, there wasn't any need for any backup. Even if he was two or three times as skilled, she still doubted he'd pose any significant threat. Turning toward the accelerating train, she dashed after it. Leaping into the air, she landed on top of the locomotive's caboose just before it reached full speed. Glancing behind her she saw the station quickly fading from view. There was no going back now. Taking a deep breath, she quickly began moving down the train cars to catch up with her target. The wind whipped against her face and she found herself squinting to try and keep her eyes from drying out. Her movement was slowed slightly as the train left it's linear course and began curving; getting thrown off because of a misstep was the last thing she needed. In the distance, she could just barely make out the man in black. His eerie figure rapidly came into view as she got closer and closer. He was three cars ahead of her and seemed to be waiting for her to arrive. Before Riley could act, the train took a curve and the ensuing displacement of air sent her hair into a tizzy. Strands of blue and red hair blocked her vision for only a fraction of a second and when she moved a hand to clear it her sight was suddenly filled with black. In that infinitesimally small window, the man in black had crossed the distance with naught a sound and stopped in front of her. Reflexively, Riley fell backwards to put some distance between her and her foe and took a swing for good measure.

Her guitar approached its target, namely the man's torso, but it didn't reach. Before Riley's eyes, her weapon seemed to distort and bend around the man's form. As the guitar swung out to the right, it's solid shape returned, but the unexpected follow through sent Riley into a tumble. She found herself struggling to find her balance as she precariously teetered at the edge of the train car. She managed recover, albeit barely, and cartwheeled away from the man. He didn't follow immediately instead opting to remain where he was and silently stare her down. Riley was suddenly having second thoughts about her previous course of action; though hindsight is, of course, twenty twenty. She shook her head to dismiss her doubts. There was no point in dwelling on what could have been. She was in this situation here and now. And she was going to make sure she came out on top.

Standing erect, she positioned her stratocaster in front of her and threw her free hand down over the strings. The soundwave exploded toward the man, but it, despite its speed, also failed to miss its mark. With a swiftness significantly superior to the mooks she had fought earlier the man leapt into the air and completely bypassed the attack. He landed behind the blast and then launched himself at Riley. Barely able to react, Riley brought her guitar up in front of herself to try and protect against any incoming attack that might come. As he came upon her, the cloak covering the man finally split. From what looked like shadows beneath the cloth extended a long, thin, bony arm with fingers outstretched. The skin was sticking tight to the bones beneath it and had very little fat or muscle; at a glance it might seem to someone else that a light wind would cause it to snap in two. The fingers that unfurled from his palm were equally thin and disturbingly long compared to normal appendages. Adding to the disconcerting look of the fingers were long fingernails easily two inches long.

When the man's hand was just inches away from Aoide's Song, Riley felt what she thought was a small pulse. She felt her guitar offer a brief moment of resistance before it snapped in two. The strings dissipated immediately and the splitting metal sparked as fragments rubbed against each other resulting in the dust inside detonating. Riley's body was immediately consumed by the elements; fire raged, ice froze, lightning crackled, water rushed, and earth quaked. The explosion splintered the remains of Riley's weapon and sent what was left of the stratocaster soaring to either side of the train while simultaneously knocking Riley back almost to the caboose. She hit the train roof hard and, between the ringing in her ears and the throbbing pain in her head and body, she felt the distinct _pop!_ of her Aura failing. She tried to blink away the stars swirling around her head with only moderate success and struggled to get to her feet. She got about halfway up before her legs failed her and she fell back on her behind, her vision focusing on her legs as she didn't barely have enough energy to direct them elsewhere. Her eyes eventually drifted wearily from her battered knees to something close in front of her. Riley's heart skipped a beat as she recognized the man in black's form. He was right in front her and didn't seem to have been harmed by the explosion at all. His arm was outstretched and slowly approaching her head. She tried to scoot back, but found her legs and arms weren't responding to her calls. She opened her mouth to scream in defiance, but no sound left it.

This was it. As her body wouldn't react accordingly, Riley was forced to watch the instrument of her death bare down on her. It wasn't supposed to go down like this. There had been things that had tested her strength before but she'd always made an attempt to fight against them. Sometimes she'd failed and other times she'd overcome the odds and succeeded, but she'd always been able to try. This man, however, had defeated her as easily as she had defeated his underlings. She didn't want to die. There's was still so much left she had to do. She wanted to see her friends again. She wanted to graduate. She wanted to become a proud huntress and make a name for herself. She wanted to travel the world. She, maybe eventually, wanted to have a family. Most of all she wanted to _live_.

Just as the man's hand was upon her, Riley caught movement in the corner of her eye. A circular object rocketed toward the man in front of Riley on a wide arc from her right. Riley's assailant noticed just in time and withdrew his hand back into his cloak as he jumped away. The object flew past Riley's face and sped off into the distance on the opposite side of the train. She blinked once and when her eyes opened again she found the familiar sight of Westley's brown duster. Her mind flashed back to her first encounter with Westley, when she didn't even know his name, and the nostalgic deja vu hit her hard with a feeling of incompetence. She was once again alive only by the saving grace of Westley Fullbright. In a very similar manner to their first meeting, he looked over his left shoulder and asked, "Are you alright?"

Riley immediately diverted her eyes so as to not meet his and nodded with a wince, "I'm…..fine…."

This drew a chuckle from Westley, "Good. By the way. If we're going to make a habit of you running off on your own, getting summarily beaten, and then needing me to fly in and save you perhaps I should start charging you Lien for the service."

The similarity to their first encounter was obviously not lost on him as he cracked the joke with a wide grin. Before Riley could say anything Westley followed with, "Of course you know I'm kidding, right? I can't really blame you for all of this."

He turned his head so that he was staring down the man in black, but continued to talk to her, "I can often be the same way. I don't know how many times Axel has had to get me out of a bind because of my misplaced bravado. Huh…I guess this is how he feels…."

Westley chuckled again, "I'm not ever gonna change though. And I've got a feeling my own actions are in part to blame for your running off on your own. So I'm sorry about that. I suppose I'm still treating you with kid gloves. But I promise I'll explain everything to you when we get back to Beacon. Because we _are_ getting back to Beacon."

He twisted his neck to either side resulting in an audible crack. He shook out his body and held his left hand out to the side. His right hand reached under his jacket and to the back of waist and he pulled out one of his chakrams. With his left hand still outstretched he addressed the man in black, "So you made two very big mistakes. First off you hurt my teammate. As her leader that has me very peeved. More importantly, however, is the second thing; you hurt my friend. And that's got me angry on a _whole_ other level."

The instant he finished his sentence Riley saw something speed up behind the man in black. He seemed to notice as well as his head turned ever so slightly as it approached. The man stood completely still and as the chakram closed in it managed to get a couple inches away before it seemed to warp and bend around the man in black. Westley's second chakram continued to fly through the air and came to a halt as Westley caught it.

"Huh," Westley commented, "That's going to be annoying."

Westley's hair and jacket began to float around his head much like they were both submerged in water. Then he was suddenly gone from Riley's view. She just barely managed to catch him reappear behind the man in black and take a swing at him mid air. The man in black once again didn't move and Westley's attack curved around its target as if pushed away by some unseen force. Westley scowled and dropped to the ground. He crouched as the man in black swung around, the creepy arm emerging from within the cloak, and just barely avoided getting tagged. The man in black adjusted quickly and thrust his hand down toward Westley who responded by…..Riley couldn't believe her eyes at first. Westley soared to the left of the train toward the forest to avoid the attack. He didn't fall into the foliage, however. Westley was now floating in the air alongside the moving train. The man's hand touched the top of the train car and a palm sized hole crunched inwards into the metal roof creating a hole.

A low, guttural growl came from the man in black, the first sound Riley had ever heard him make. He seemed to be annoyed with Westley being able to keep his distance so readily. Westley beamed a wide grin at the man and taunted, "What's wrong? Having problems getting it up? Happens to the best of us."

He then dashed, or rather _flew_ directly at the man and zipped around to the right at the last second to avoid another attack from the man's hand. Now behind the man, Westley threw both chakram to the side. The discs curved through the air and began encircling the man in black. With each passing circle they got closer and closer until they were just about at the distance all of Westley's attacks prior had been deflected before. Then the runes on the chakrams began to glow. Immediately thereafter there were two large explosions that encompassed the man in Black's entire body in a haze of smoke and fire. Westley let out a whoop and recalled his weapons. He grinned at the billowing stack of smoke, obviously pleased with his work. The grin rapidly vanished however as the man in black, still unharmed darted out from the smog and appeared a single step away from Riley, his arm outstretched. Westley reacted almost as quickly and dove into the tiny space between Riley and the man and suddenly dropped to the ground from his flight. His landing dented the roof of the train and his hair and jacket were now laid very flat against his body. The man's hand, which was initially intended for Riley, found a home directly on Westley's chest. Riley looked on in horror as she caught the slightest glimpse of a pulse leave the man's hand and the _pop!_ of Westley's aura dissipating immediately. The man in black took a few steps back and simply watched.

Westley released a cough and muttered, "Well this freaking sucks…."

He then staggered to one knee before collapsing on his chest. His head was turned out to the right and as Riley stumbled to a position where she could try and diagnose the extent of Westley's injuries she saw a thin, but distinct trail of blood dripping from the side of his mouth. The smell of iron was unmistakable and Riley rapidly turned him over. Westley's black shirt had the fabric ripped apart in a small circle. Inside the circle, Westley's bare chest was purple and blue and red pinpricks of blood were seeping out from a multitude of tiny abrasions. He was definitely unconscious, but his chest continued to move up and down if only slightly. Westley was still alive. She breathed a sigh of relief, but her respite was momentary as she was very much aware that the man in black was still present. His ram-shaped mask bore down on her and Westley and Riley instinctively moved herself between the man and her leader. Not sure what else to do, she snatched Westley's chakrams off the ground next to him and gripped them tightly. Perhaps a little too tightly. Because of her lack of aura the sharp edges around the discs cut into her hands. She winced, but otherwise held firm in spite of the blood now trickling down her palms. She moved a hand up to her ear and used a finger to press on the com.

"Axel?! Pelyope?! Can you hear me?"

Static was the only response.

She grit her teeth and continued, "If you guys can read me Westley and I are in trouble. We need your-"

The man in black was obviously not going to wait around for Riley to call in backup and propelled himself at her. Riley futilely held the chakrams out in front of her and braced for whatever was coming, but fortunately her assailant never reached her. A gust of wind exploded outward from behind her and the man in black flew backwards. He hit the train hard and skid across the car roof. Riley blinked. Something had actually hit the man? How on Remnant did that happen?

Before the man in black could properly reorient himself, several silver-green spheres appeared in the air around him. A single arrow shot out of one, but bent around the man, missing its target. The arrow disappeared into another sphere opposite him and then exited from a globe sitting above the man in black. As the arrow once again found itself warped out of the way, it entered into a back and forth as it exited a sphere, moved around the man, and continued into another sphere. While it wasn't doing any direct damage, the man in black seemed to be unable to move in any significant way.

A figure swung up from the side of the train car Riley and Westley were on and Axel landed in front of her. He wasn't wearing much in terms of combat attire, just a white tank top tucked into some cargo pants with his shield bracers unfurled on his forearms. The brass knuckles connected to the bracers were glowing white as they waited for Axel to use them. Pelyope came up from the other side and landed next to Westley. A look of intense fear and worry painted her face as she crouched down next to Westley. She quickly, but gingerly lifted his head and said, tears welling in her eyes, "Westley?! Come on. Answer me!"

Riley shook her head, "He's hurt really badly. I don't know what exactly that guy did, but Westley needs help. Now."

Axel looked back at Westley's limp form and frowned. He returned his gaze to the man in black and furrowed his eyes. Somehow, in the short time Axel was distracted, the man had disappeared. Axel looked around, but couldn't pinpoint him. It seemed like he managed to escape somehow. Releasing a strained huff, Axel took out his scroll and crouched down to mitigate the sound of the flowing wind. Riley saw him dial a number and when the person on the other end picked up Axel didn't wait for them to talk, "This is Axel Thulian. I am on the westbound train en route to Freemont City and am in need of immediate medical evac. My team leader has suffered tremendous wounds and is in critical condition."

Whoever he was talking to seemed to be patched into his ear piece as Riley couldn't hear the response, only see Axel nodding as they spoke. The faunus looked from Axel to Pelyope. Riley's teammate was now crying plainly and gently petting Westley's hair. As she did so she began shaking her head and Riley felt her heart jump into her throat as she overheard Pelyope murmuring, "No no no no no…..not again….oh gods please not again…"


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Silence permeated the Bullhead as it raced through the air. Two medics were leaning over Westley's body working frantically to make sure he didn't fade away. They hadn't said anything in almost twenty minutes, their focus completely on team WNTR's leader. His jacket and shirt had been discarded and several cords had been hooked up to his chiseled chest to monitor his weakening vitals. Riley had expected the wound to be gruesome, but seeing it uncensored by the shirt was something else. The bruising and internal bleeding had spread black and blue and purple all across the top half of Westley's torso and Riley now had the clarity of vision to see that the initial wound had actually left a dent in the man's chest. As she surveyed his frame, Riley also noted three large scars just below the bruising that started at his stomach and stretched down at an angle toward his waist disappearing beneath the belt line of his pants. They were most certainly much older than his current wounds, but Riley found herself somewhat curious about their origins. For something to have caused such grievous injury to Westley, surely it must have been a powerful foe.

Pelyope was standing directly behind the medics, one hand cupped over her mouth and one set across her chest and tucked under her other arm. She had stopped crying, but she refused to leave Westley's side. The medics had made attempts to get her to sit down elsewhere, but Pelyope had refused wholeheartedly.

Riley's eyes trailed to Axel who was sitting at the rear of the vehicle. When they had first boarded he had kept silent watch over what transpired, but he was now sitting with his legs crossed and eyes closed; she assumed he was meditating or something. Unable to bear the silence any longer, Riley moved from the side of the Bullhead back to where Axel was sitting. She gingerly took a seat next to the right of him and whispered, "Do you think Westley is going to be alright?"

Axel didn't respond at first, but, slowly, he opened his eyes and looked at her. He pursed his lips as his mind began formulating a response and finally said in a matching tone to hers, "I have hope that he will. Westley is as stubborn and hearty as they come. This will certainly be a mountain he has to climb, but I have faith he'll reach the summit."

Riley nodded and fell once again back into silence. As the moments passed and no conversation was initiated Riley found herself getting skittish. She needed something other than quiet. So long as she was surrounded by hush her thoughts were allowed to travel in any direction they wanted and right now they refused to go in any direction other than sickening self blame. As soon as she began coming down from her adrenaline fueled high, she had begun to rebuke herself for her actions and draw every ounce of blame on herself. If she hadn't rushed off on her own, if she had only waited for Westley to catch up with her, if she hadn't defaulted to being so consumed by anger and irritation that she'd ignored his pleas, if she had been a better fighter, if she hadn't froze, if, if, if. It had been eating at her, gnawing at her efforts to keep composed and with nothing to distract her she was coming dangerously close to her breaking point.

"It wasn't your fault…"

Axel's quiet words hit her like a truck. She looked at him and questioned, "What?"

Axel was looking at Westley's motionless form and occasionally cast a glance at Pelyope. Taking in a deep breath he repeated, "It's not your fault. I know what you're thinking."

"Oh?" Riley scoffed, "So you can read minds now?"

Riley's mind screamed at her. What in the hell was she doing? Axel was trying to offer comfort and Riley found herself responding with a harsh attitude. What on Remnant would possess her to react so venomously like that?

…

Unless…

"Not exactly," chuckled Axel, apparently not fazed by Riley's demeanor, "You just happen to wear your emotions on your sleeves. You're not very good at hiding how you feel. Which is fine despite what others might say. And right now you're feeling like Westley ending up like that is all your fault. You shouldn't feel like that because it's not true."

But that's exactly how Riley wanted to feel. She had a sudden, horrible realization that she _wanted_ to feel like crap. She wanted to take all the blame for what had happened because it would prove herself right. All of the doubts she had had regarding her praise from Ozpin and the others, all of her hesitation at believing that she was talented enough to sit on the same level as the rest of her team, all the fear inside her that she might not actually be cut out for a career as a huntress. It would all become true for her if she was completely at fault for what had transpired. She felt a cry get caught in her throat and choked on the sound. A single tear wiggled its way from the corner of her eye despite her protest. How? Why would she be so desperate to feel like that? Was her self doubt truly that immense?

Riley's next question came out choked, "How can you be so positive about that? If it wasn't for me-"

"Did you land the blow that injured him so?"

The faunus blinked at him, "No, but-"

"Then it's not your fault."

Riley opened her mouth to argue her reasoning, but never got a word out as Axel elaborated his point, "Westley knew what he signed up for when he started training as a Huntsman. This right here is one of the risks each and every single one of us who are working toward that same goal will face every day of our lives henceforth. It doesn't matter that you ran off on your own. Westley would have ended up on that train one way or another. It's in his nature to chase after the bad guy be they Grimm, human, faunus, or anything else. He probably would have gone by himself just like you if no one else was available. And, to be perfectly honest, that man in black's semblance was tremendously powerful. I've got a feeling we'd have been hard pressed fighting him as a team let alone one on one. One of us getting hurt was inevitable in a confrontation with that man and Westley _chose_ to be the one to take that hit rather than one of us. So don't you dare take any blame on yourself. The man in black is the one who hurt Westley. He's the one who instigated the attack on the refueling station. He is the one who is wholeheartedly at fault. Not you. And it would be wrong on so many levels if you let him get away without justice for anything less than everything he was guilty of."

Riley felt trails of tears stream down her face. She wasn't sobbing, but she couldn't hold back the droplets that had started to form at the corners of her eyes earlier. She was at a complete loss for words. Despite all of the circumstances and despite all of the guilt she felt, all of the guilt she _wanted_ to feel, Axel had made it plain and clear that no matter what she said she was in the clear regarding Westley's wellbeing. Riley had only ever known two other people who would have supported her the way Axel was supporting her now and betwixt the shock from discovering someone else like that was a surge of relief as his words banished away the negative feelings that had been weighing her down.

She jumped a little when the warmth of his hand met hers. He was looking straight ahead at Westley, but had moved his hand so that he was able to give hers a small, comforting squeeze. Riley gave a sniff and used her free hand to wipe away some of the streaks on her face. Axel remained still for a few moments, his hand unmoving, before finally letting her go and placing it by his side on the bench. Riley repositioned herself so that her back was against the wall of the Bullhead and watched Westley in silence with Axel. Suddenly the silence wasn't as heavy. She took in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. She wasn't going to forget this for the rest of her life. The kindness Axel showed her today was something she was going to cherish forever.

* * *

Pelyope had fallen asleep on the bench nearest Westley and Riley could just barely hear her soft breathing. The medics had apparently stabilized Westley and had promptly moved to the cockpit; Riley assumed they were on the horn with someone back in Vale discussing what to do with her leader when they touched down. They were less than half an hour out at this point by Riley's estimations. Axel had returned to his meditation and Riley had simply been reflecting in the quiet. In her reflecting she had remembered something Pelyope had said on the roof of the train and the faunus had been struggling with whether or not to ask about it. Her struggle ceased as soon as her curiosity had exceeded her ability to restrain it. Turning to Axel she nudged him to get his attention. He opened the eye closest to her and murmured, "Hm?"

"I….um….Something Pelyope said back on the train has been bugging me."

Both eyes were open now and his head swiveled to look at her showing she had his full attention.

Taking his silence as affirmation to continue, Riley took a deep breath and asked, "What did she mean when she said 'not again'?"

Axel's lips immediately set into a firm line and he exhaled audibly from his nose. He nodded and replied, "I was wondering if you were going to bring that up. I suppose now is as good a time as any to tell you."

He uncrossed his legs and set them on the floor. Bending over slightly, he set his elbows on his knees and rested his chin on his interlocked fingers. Looking at the sleeping Pelyope he began his explanation, "This is the story of your predecessor, our friend, Ruruki Darkwolf."

* * *

 ** _Several Months Earlier…._**

Air whipped around the cabin as the Bullhead doors opened mid flight. Axel watched from a seated position as Westley and Pelyope moved to the door and looked down. A hand landed roughly on his shoulder and a gruff voice yelled over the wind, "You ready Ax?"

Axel turned to his speaker. Ruruki Darkwolf stood tall enough that he was having to hunch over to keep from hitting his head on the roof of the ship. A messy, tangled mop of pitch black hair resided on his head and was so thick you almost couldn't make out the lupine ears sticking out of the top of it. Pale skin seemed to almost glow in the low light and piercing red eyes smiled down at Axel. Over his body he was wearing a long, black jacket similar in length to Westley's, but noticeably less bulky. The jacket was zipped up and clung tightly to the thin frame beneath it. If Axel hadn't seen him get dressed that morning he never would have been able to tell that he was wearing a flame red t-shirt and black jeans under the jacket. Dull, golden gauntlets tipped with wickedly sharp claws were worn on his hands and heavy duty boots, albeit not as heavy duty as Westley's, covered his feet. Overall he was quite intimidating to people who didn't know him. Those that did knew that he was, in fact, a veritable teddy bear to those who he called friend.

Sporting a confident smiled, Axel nodded and answered, "Always."

"Good," beamed an excited Ruruki, "I don't need Westley beating us again."

That drew a chuckled from Axel, "It's not a competition. How many people you defeat doesn't matter, only if the mission is completed."

"Those are the words of a loser," Ruruki teased.

"They're the words of someone who doesn't keep score."

Ruruki simply snickered in response. Westley turned back from the door and hollered, "Well this is where Pelyope and I get off! We'll meet you guys at the warehouse! Last one there is a rotten egg!"

Without waiting for any sort of reply, Westley gave a grin and fell backwards out of the Bullhead as he brandished a faux salute and goofy, tongue out expression. Pelyope rolled her eyes with just the barest evidence of a smirk across her lips, waved to Ruruki and Axel, and then dove out after their leader. As soon as they had exited, the Bullhead veered to the right and began to enter into a wide arc as it maneuvered to the otherside of the facility they were encroaching upon. According to their information, the White Fang had been illegally amassing large quantities of dust over the last few weeks and the warehouse they were heading to was where the organization was keeping the majority of their bounty. The volume they were stockpiling certainly wasn't conducive to anything peaceful and their team had been tasked to…'redistribute their product' as Westley so elegantly put it. Pelyope and Westley were to invade the location from the south and Axel and Ruruki were to circle around and come in from the north. They'd then descend upon the facility, pacify any hostile resistance, and secure the location for Vale authorities to move in after the team was gone. Pretty simple and straightforward compared to their previous missions.

The speed at which the Bullhead was traveling brought Axel and Ruruki to their destination in under five minutes. The airship came to a hover several dozen meters above the forest that surrounded their target and waited for the two to depart. Ruruki was the first to leap into the night, releasing an excited howl toward the moon as he did so. Axel stood up and made his way to the door. Looking down he quickly surveyed the area to discern the safest point of landing and found a small clearing slightly to the right of the Bullhead; fortunately it was on the way to the warehouse so he wouldn't lose any time. With his destination in mind, he threw himself out of the airship.

Gravity immediately took hold of him and began pulling Axel toward the surface of Remnant. Rapidly gaining his bearings, he tilted his body so that his descent would curve toward the clearing. As he was wearing nothing more than a white tank top and camo cargo pants, the cool night air nipped at his exposed body parts. It didn't bother Axel too much, though; he was actually quite fond of the cold, it was heat that often did him in. The trees beneath him closed in fast and as the canopy began to tickle at his legs, he had a brief moment of doubt that he'd make it all the way to the clearing. He pulled his arms in and increased the speed of his descent to try and avoid having to deal with the thick trees below him. It wasn't like they would present much of an obstruction, they were simply a nuisance he didn't want to waste time trying to work around.

Luck seemed to be in his favor as he just barely managed to scrape past the treetops and breach into the clearing. The ground came up rapidly and he angled himself so that his shoulder was positioned to hit the ground first. Axel folded his arms up to brace himself and activated his weapon. A single Chronos Veil unfurled into it's full shield form, the mass of metal large enough to completely block Axel's torso. The attached brass knuckles flipped over initially, but Axel flicked his wrist sending them back to their standby position; all he needed was his shield for the moment. There were mere seconds between the complete activation of his Chronos Veil and impact with the ground. The earth shook and blasted away, knocking up a cloud of dust. A resounding thunderclap tore through the clearing, but was quickly muffled by the surrounding tree cover. As the dust settled, Axel stood unharmed at the center of a decent sized crater. He hadn't felt any of the force from the impact, his shield bracer completely absorbing the kinetic energy that tried to reach his body. Glancing at the front of his shield, he just barely managed to see the faint blue glow of the dust veins infused within the metal that helped facilitate the weapon's kinetic osmosis before they faded away into dormancy.

Movement out of the corner of his eye put him on guard. Despite being fully alert now, however, he maintained his calm presence of mind and swiveled his head to view who or what it was. Axel's shoulders slumped in relief slightly as he realized it was only Ruruki. The wolf faunus was looking over the damaged clearing and asked, "You alright?"

"Of course," Axel responded as his weapon rolled back into its passive form, "How was your landing?"

"Not as bad as back on our first mission," chuckled Ruruki.

Axel responded with a nod and a smile. He couldn't imagine a touchdown much worse than one involving landing in the center of a group of Ursa. But Ruruki managed like he always does. Maintaining his amused expression, Axel pulled out his scroll so that he could discern the correct direction the two needed to travel. He slowly turned his body until the compass program he was using lined up with the south and then said, "Let's go. Westley and Pelyope should be there soon. If we keep them waiting, Westley will never let us hear the end of it."

And so the two set off.

Despite the denseness of the deciduous forest, the two men traversed the terrain with virtually no impediment to their travel time. It took them just about twenty minutes to reach the top of a hill that overlooked their destination. Several hundred meters away loomed the two story warehouse. The exterior lights were off and even with the moonlight it was hard to see the building unless you were focusing on it; the trees provided an impressive amount of camouflage. Axel didn't see any sentries off hand and that lent to an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach. Additionally there was something else that had been gnawing at him since they had landed, but he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was. He reached his hand up to his ear and tapped on the com resting on it.

"Axel to Westley, we're in position. Are you guys good to go?"

"Good to go?" replied Westley, "We were just getting ready to have tea. I put the water on and everything. Pel and I weren't sure how long you two were gonna-"

"You were right…" grumbled Ruruki to a smiling Axel.

"But I suppose we could postpone our midnight trist if you guys are-OW!"

In addition to Westley's exclamation Axel heard the distinct sound of someone getting punched. A disgruntled sounding Westley came back over the coms after a brief moment of silence and said, "Yeah, we're ready. Radio silence from here on out. We'll rendezvous in the center of the complex."

Westley's mic picked up a few words before it cut off completely, "You didn't have to hit me so hard, Pel. A simple love tap would have sufficed!"

Axel released an amused sigh and Ruruki shook his head with a roll of his eyes.

"How that guy was made leader is something I will never understand," grunted the faunus with a snicker.

Looking over the warehouse again, Axel inquired, "Shall we?"

Ruruki nodded, "Lead the way."

Axel activated both of his Chronos Veils and allowed the knuckles to fall into place this time, battle ready. Ruruki flexed his claws and the tips began to glow a dark red, almost the same shade as his eyes. Now ready for combat, the two proceeded toward the warehouse. As they closed in, Axel realized what had been bothering him; there was a distinct lack of wildlife. No owls hooted, no mice skittered, no snakes slithered, there was no nocturnal activity at all. Aside from their almost silent footfalls and the occasional rustling of leaves when the wind blew, no other signs of life were present. He and Ruruki took cover behind some trees as they came upon the warehouse. It's outer walls were covered in dark grey sheet metal, but through deteriorated cracks in the alloy, Axel could see a sturdier concrete base beneath the metal shielding. There were no windows on the ground level, but Axel noted several on the second; they were all boarded up, however, so there was no chance of scoping out the inside from them. A pang of anxiety concerning the once again struck the pit of Axel's stomach and he opened his mouth to voice his concerns, but Ruruki beat him to the punch for conversation topic.

"I'm gonna ask her out."

Axel blinked, completely caught off guard by the seemingly out of nowhere declaration.

"Um...what?"

Ruruki looked at Axel and elaborated, "Pelyope. I'm gonna ask her out tomorrow."

"Ah!" said Axel, now having the context needed to understand the conversation. Ruruki had had a blatantly obvious crush on Pelyope form the moment the two met when their team was first formed. He'd never actually acted on his emotions, but his feelings were quite transparent. At least to Axel and Westley. And despite not mentioning it around her at Ruruki's request, Axel was fairly certain Pelyope knew as well; she was far too observant a person to miss something so obvious.

Ruruki moved out from behind his cover and dashed to the sheet metal wall of the warehouse. Axel followed suit and questioned, "Are you sure that's wise?"

As the two began moving down the side of the building toward a door that was now visible Ruruki whispered back, "Even if it's not, I've got to do it. Isn't it better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all?"

"I have literally never heard that phrase before."

Axel took position in front of the door as Ruruki tried the handle. The faunus gave a nod indicating it was unlocked and began to mouth a countdown to Axel.

 _Three._

 _Two._

 _One._

Ruruki turned the knob and threw the door open. Immediately, Axel rushed through the door, weapons at the ready, and surveyed the area as he entered. He was standing in a ten foot wide hallway with slate colored walls and concrete floors, his only companion the pitch black darkness that lived in the corridor. Ruruki moved in behind Axel and guarded his flank. There were only two options to travel, east or west, and Axel gave a nod toward the east. Ruruki took point this time as his eyes were better suited to the dark environment; nothing was going to surprise them from the shadows so long as the faunus led the way. Ruruki continued their conversation quietly as they proceeded down the hall.

"Do you really think it's such a bad idea?"

Axel gave a huff. Truth be told there probably wasn't any _actual_ harm in Ruruki's pursuit of Pelyope, he just didn't want either of his friends to get hurt. Axel stated as such aloud, "I suppose not. I'm just trying to look out for both you and Pelyope. For obvious reasons fraternization amongst teammates could be detrimental to the team as a whole whether you get her or not, but on a personal level, what if you two get together and things end badly? I don't want to see two good friends wind up bitter with each other."

"There's _always_ a chance a relationship could end badly," acknowledged the faunus as they rounded a right hand corner to another hallway lined with locked doors, "But if everyone on Remnant held back in love because something _might_ happen, because things _might_ go wrong, the concept of love would have died out a long time ago. Sometimes you have to risk it to get the biscuit. And let me tell you, I think the biscuit is worth it."

"Hm," was Axel's only initial response. That was actually a pretty good answer to his question despite the odd expression. Perhaps Axel _was_ being too cautious. Besides, how was it his place to try and deny Ruruki a shot at happiness. If things _did_ work out between his friends, his elation would be tremendous.

The two came to a stop at a double door at the end of the hallway. Axel reached into the pouch on his side and retrieved his scroll. He turned it on and was relieved to find that, fortunately, he had remembered to dim the screen brightness when he had opened it earlier. The scroll's glow was minute and, in addition to not immediately blinding him, it wouldn't have been obvious to anyone behind closed doors. He pulled up the schematic for the warehouse they had been given and pointed out a spot on the blueprint.

"I believe we're here. Once we go through the doors we should be just a single right turn away from the main storage room. That's where we're going to meet up with the other two."

Ruruki gave a nod and pressed an ear to the door. After a moment of pause he took his head off it, "Nothing on the other side. Let's go."

The faunus opened the door and the two slid through into yet another narrow hallway identical to the one they had just left. As the door closed behind them Axel took the silence as an opportunity to ask Ruruki his opinion on their current subject, "Do you think she is going to say yes when you ask her?"

Ruruki went silent for a few feet before answering, "Like I said, I have hope that she will. The tunnel visioned optimist in me sees only a future where she says yes. However…"

Axel could almost feel the melancholic smirk on Ruruki's face through his words as he continued, "My more pragmatic side knows that optimism only gets you so far. I mean we're two _very_ different people. She's kind and sweet and intelligent and beautiful and high class. I'm, quite literally in most respects, a mutt. Born and raised in a slum in Vacuo and in constant poverty my whole life. I'm not super smart or super good looking and my temper often gets the better of me when I'm stressed. She'll probably tell me she's flattered at the proposal and then politely and gently let me down. And I'm prepared for that; it'd be fine if that happens so long as I tried. But I'm still hanging on that maybe, _just maybe_ , the feelings that I have for her will go beyond the outer differences between us and touch her heart in a way that she'll say yes."

Axel's smile was stretching from ear to ear. Stifling what could have been a loud chuckle, he said to Ruruki, "You certainly are the romantic, aren't you? I'm surprised I haven't noticed that about you before. We've been living together for almost a year now and I've never once heard you talk so passionately. It's a good look on you."

Ruruki cleared his throat, suddenly very self conscious about what he was saying aloud, and stated in his a slightly gruffer voice than normal, "Well…don't tell anyone…"

"Maybe you should tell Pelyope. According to Westley, women love a man with a strong romantic side."

This drew a quiet laugh from Ruruki, "You want me to take relationship advice from Westley? The man who has a success to failure ratio with women on the order of 0 to 100 and counting?"

Now Axel was laughing softly, "I suppose you're right. For all the charisma that man has, romance always seems to elude him. Well I suppose your aptitude for romance will remain our secret then."

Ruruki gave an amused nod and Axel concluded the conversation with, "Good luck, Ruruki. I wish you the best."

"Thanks," the faunus responded, "I appreciate it."

The remaining brief stint of their trek went on in silence. When they reached the doors Axel had previously pointed out, Ruruki checked the other side for activity. Upon finding nothing, Ruruki looked to Axel who gave the go ahead to breach. Like before, Ruruki opened the door and Axel entered first, shields raised in preparation for any sort of potential attack. When nothing came, Axel laxed a hair, but continued to be on the lookout for anything that might approach them with hostility. The room the two had entered was definitely the main storage area. Large crates littered the several dozen meter long room and were stacked almost to the ceiling in some places. The roof was higher than the previous sections of building as this area merged the two floors of the complex to make more space for whatever needed to be kept here. As Axel and Ruruki traversed the labyrinth of crates, Axel noticed that almost all of the boxes here were marked with the Schnee Dust Company logo. That confirmed the team was in the right spot.

The duo had only been walking for a few minutes when a nearby voice spoke up, "It's about time. What took you so long?"

Axel and Ruruki twirled around, both taking up a defensive battle stance. They simultaneously slumped their forms as the realized it was Westley who was talking to them. Pelyope was standing next to him, giggling slightly.

"A bit on edge?" she mused at Ruruki.

"Uh...n-no! I'm good. Always good!"

The faunus quickly stood up straight and adopted a more macho demeanor. To Axel, it was humorous to see a man as imposing as Ruruki scrambling to look composed in front of someone. What was not humorous, however, was the fact that Pelyope was right. Axel had been and currently was at least a little on edge. Taking on a serious expression, Axel nodded to Pelyope, "All joking aside I _am_ concerned about this place. Something is way off. Where is everyone? If this place was such an important stronghold for the White Fang, why is it completely unguarded?"

"I had the same questions," Westley responded, stepping forward, "I've got a feeling this has been one heck of a wild goose chase. Schnee Dust Company logo aside, we don't even know if these crates actually have dust in them."

"Easy way to find out," stated Ruruki.

He moved away from the team, scoping out a ground level crate that wasn't completely covered and found one twenty feet or so to the right. The faunus worked his clawed gauntlets under the wood lid and lifted up. He was instantly engulfed in a large explosion and vanished from sight.

"Ruruki!"

The unified cry from his teammates resounded throughout the warehouse as several other crates began exploding as well like some sort of chain reaction. With each detonation the warehouse shook violently. Fire rapidly began spreading to the crates that hadn't exploded and smoke began to fill the air. Crates had collapsed in the wake of the first explosion and blocked the immediate path to where Ruruki was. This didn't stop Pelyope from starting toward his last location. She leapt through the air onto the toppled crates and had to stifle a cough as smoke entered her lungs. Looking down at the area where Ruruki had once stood, Pelyope couldn't find any trace of her friend.

Axel called up to her, "Pelyope! Be careful! This place is coming down all around us! Do you see Ruruki?!"

Pelyope shook her head, distressed, "No! But he has to be somewhere!"

"You don't think…" started Axel, the worst possible outcome immediately springing to mind.

"No!" snapped Pelyope, her head turning back and forth trying to locate any trace of Ruruki, "Don't even start thinking that! He's going to be fine! His semblance…"

Her voice trailed off as despair began creeping into her body. Westley's voice then sounded, completing her thought, "Pel's right. Ruru can control the intensity of any flame that touches his body. The force of the explosion might have knocked him somewhere, but that's it. That fireball wouldn't have done anything to him. And a burning building is definitely no danger. Not to mention how much aura that guy has. We'll find him. Don't worry."

Pelyope nodded slowly, doing her best to calm herself down. She inhaled slowly and as she reached the apex of her breath the faintest sound touched her ears. It was a whistling of sorts that was almost drowned out by the roaring of the fire. Pelyope recognized it immediately as she was quite accustomed to the sound coming from her own weapon; an arrow was flying through the air and heading straight for her. She turned to try and find it so she could properly dodge, but was hindered by the billowing smoke and bright flames. Too late, she saw the minute object pierce through the smoke mere feet in front of her. Pelyope immediately reacted to dodge, but when she shifted her weight on the crates their precarious nature caused them to collapse under her. She lost her balance immediately and grit her teeth in frustration as the arrow soared true, directly at her person. She braced for impact, but when it came she was surprised to find it didn't come from an arrow. A body tackled her to the ground on the opposite side of the crates closer to where the arrow came from. She heard the arrow impact something, a sound that was accompanied by what she thought was shattering glass, and a grunt from whoever threw her to the ground.

Quickly gaining her bearings, Pelyope looked up at her savior and felt a wave of relief wash over her; it was Ruruki. The faunus was positioned on top of her, his hands on the ground on either side of her head, acting as a shield. He was panting, obviously low on energy, and battered from the explosion. He smiled down at Pelyope with a wince, "Sorry for the last second save. I was a bit busy making sure my body was in one piece."

Pelyope released a chuckle that was more to make sure the atmosphere remained light rather than because she was actually amused. A look of concern still overtook her face as she questioned, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just a little-"

"Ruruki!" cried out Pelyope suddenly.

The ceiling gave a groan as the fire nipped away at its structural integrity and finally failed to hold itself up entirely. Concrete and rebar and metal supports plummeted toward the two. Pelyope closed her eyes and prepared herself to be buried. A significant weight landed on her legs and she winced as pain shot through them. But that was the only part of her body that felt any sensation. She slowly opened her eyes and released a gasp. Ruruki had jumped to his feet and was now supporting the entire section of ceiling that had fallen on the two. He was clearly struggling to keep his composure; he was straining himself significantly trying to keep the mass of material from crushing them both. Pelyope's eyes moved down to her legs and found they were covered by several I-beams. She could still feel them and knew they weren't broken, but the weight was too much for her to move by herself.

Movement nearby drew her attention. She saw Westley and Axel moving through the rubbled crates Pelyope had once been standing on. Upon seeing the situation, Axel immediately wound back his arm to throw a punch and destroy the ceiling that Ruruki was holding up, but was stopped by Westley holding a hand out in front of him. Westley pointed up at the end of the ceiling furthest from the group, "I wouldn't do that Ax. Look. This ceiling is barely holding together as is. If you blast that section away it could bring down the rest of it on top of us."

"Then what do you suggest?" questioned a stressed Axel as he pointed to the wall of fire that was spread out across the rooftop Ruruki was holding, "We can't get much closer because of the flames. He's too far back under the rubble to roll toward us and get out in time. This is the only option we've got!"

Westley took a deep breath and answered, "I'll see if my semblance can help Ruruki get into a position to get out of there. Give me a minute."

Axel realized what Westley intended to do and gave an affirming nod. Westley called out to Ruruki, "Ruru! I'm gonna take some of the load off you. I don't know how well it's going to work and it might only give you a second or two, but get Pelyope and yourself out of there when you can."

Ruruki answer with only a strained grunt as he looked from Pelyope's trapped form to the concerned looking Axel and Westley. Westley held out both his hands and took a deep breath. As he exhaled, Axel heard his friend mumble aloud, "Grey Shift."

For a brief second from Axel and Westley's perspective, several chunks of the rubble being held up by Ruruki developed a black outline. It disappeared as quickly as it had come and as it did so the affected sections began to float upwards. Ruruki noticeably found relief from the pressure and began lifting his burden into the air. Just as he had extended his hands straight up above him and gotten into a position he was comfortable enough to try and work on attempting his exit, he felt something tear through the air next to his head. A black arrow zipped through the air, spun Ruruki's hair in a tizzy, and slammed into Westley's shoulder. The huntsman let out an 'oof' and staggered backwards. His aura held and he received no damage, but his concentration was broken causing the full weight of the ruined ceiling to fall back onto Ruruki. As soon as Ruruki was under pressure again, arrows began streaming from somewhere behind him, pelting his back incessantly. Westley moved to help Ruruki again, but the moment his hands were raised arrows streaked toward his body in an attempt to cause him to falter. Westley let out a frustrated growl and hissed a curse. He moved over to the side, out of view from the angle the arrows were previously coming, and tried again. He managed to activate his semblance fully this time, but it was momentary. An arrow launched toward a still intact portion of the roof and ricocheted off it entering into a trajectory lined directly with Westley. Westley held fast, ready to simply tank the shot and muster through it, but was spared the experience when Axel moved in front of him with his shields at the ready.

"I've got you covered. You focus on getting Ruruki and Pelyope out of there."

A grin shoved the sour expression Westley had away and found a home on the huntsman's face, "Appreciate the assist."

Axel nodded and began focusing on any incoming arrows. In response to Westley's upgraded security, several arrows began appearing from multiple angles. Some came in from the right, some from the left, others soared from straight ahead, and still more ricocheted off walls and the ceiling. Axel expertly intercepted every single one and allowed Westley enough time to take a significant amount of the burden off their friend. Ruruki shoved upward and found himself ready to make his move. The moment he did that, however, arrows shifted target from Westley to Ruruki. Several arrows impacted his back and the faunus could feel his aura draining dangerously low. The faunus couldn't properly do anything while having to worry about his assailant. Axel dropped his shields upon seeing Ruruki take the shots and took a step forward, instinctively driven to try and help his friend. In the instant his shields were down, an arrow whizzed from overhead and landed hard on Westley. This time, unlike the others, the arrow exploded. Westley was thrown backwards and buried in a pile of crates. Axel turned to Westley and was suddenly knocked airborne by an explosive arrow striking the ground at his feet. Ruruki's knees buckled as the weight came crashing back down on him. He looked over the scene in front of him; Pelyope struggling to free herself from her steel prison, Westley stumbling out of the crates dazed and disoriented, and Axel toiling to find his bearings.

He let out a sigh of resignation and called out to a now mostly recovered Westley, "Hey Westley!"

An arrow struck his back and he winced in pain.

"Get Pelyope out of here," he continued, "I'll finish this."

Westley blinked a couple times to completely wash away his daze and then frowned at Ruruki as the faunus' request registered with him. Pelyope saw the exchange and began shaking her head frantically, "No. Don't even think about it Ruruki. We're both getting out of here."

Ruruki chuckled somberly, "I think we both know that's not true. We're in no position to save both of us."

Tears began to form at the corners of Pelyope's eyes, "Ruruki don't give up! We can still-"

She was interrupted by Ruruki letting out a pained grunt as another arrow hit him. Ruruki did his best to form a smile and cast it at Pelyope, "I know this is really bad timing and all, but if I don't say it now I'm not going to get this chance again. Pelyope...you are beautiful and caring and one of a kind-"

The faunus was momentarily cut short by several more arrows impacting him. He grit his teeth and forced himself to press on, "And you are going to live. I just need you to know that I'm fine with this. Don't for a second think this is something you could have changed. It's just the way the dice rolled."

"No!" Pelyope cried out, "How can you be fine with this? How can you-"

"Because I love you."

All words left Pelyope's mouth. No sound left her lips as she looked at him with complete and utter shock. Westley's eyes cut down toward the ground at the declaration and Axel, who was now on his feet, frowned deeply. Ruruki exhaled audibly and said with a small chuckled, "Wow. I feel a lot better after saying that outloud. Like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders….so to speak…"

Pelyope felt the tears spill over and she quickly stammered, "W-w-well now we both have to get out of here. You don't get to drop that on me and then walk away. We've got a lot to talk about. You have to-"

"Westley…"

Ruruki and his friend locked eyes. Then, slowly, Westley nodded. He held out his hand and said, "Grey Shift."

The beams pinning Pelyope shuddered and sluggishly started to rise into the air. At the same time he followed with, "Blue Shift."

Before Pelyope could properly react, her body was yanked toward Westley and her form was quickly grasped by him. The moment her faculties were her own again, she began struggling to get free from Westley's hold in an attempt to make it to Ruruki.

"Westley! Let me go! I'm free now! We can get him! We can-"

"Take care of her guys," called Ruruki, "I'll buy you some time to get out of here. See you on the other side."

Pelyope strained at Westley's grasp and reached out her hand in desperation, "RURUKI!"

The faunus released a small sigh and smiled at her one last time before using the last of his strength to momentarily throw the ceiling into the air just enough to allow him to fall backwards toward whoever it was that had been assailing them. The ceiling crashed into the ground and the entire building shook. Other sections of the roof were quivering now and it was obvious the building was no longer going to hold. Axel and Westley quickly carried a struggling Pelyope through the wreckage as she continued to call after their teammate. As they breached through the doors and into the night, they heard a final howl and then silence.

* * *

Axel took a moment to collect himself, the memories obviously drawing on some intense emotions. When he was well enough, he finished, "The intensity of the fire kept us from immediately going back in; there must have actually been dust in some of those containers that were feeding the flames. When we did we manage to get back inside to search the building, we spent hours sifting through the rubble. In the end we found nothing but his gauntlets amid a sea of ash and tinder and stone."

Riley's breath had long since gotten caught in her throat and as he concluded she remembered she had to breath. She took in a deep breath and immediately followed with, "Axel...I'm so sorry…"

She cut a glance at Westley and Pelyope and now understood Pelyope's fierce reaction. She turned back to Axel and asked, "Did you ever find who attacked you? Did they make it out of the building?"

Axel shook his head, "No. And we don't know if she died or not either."

"She?" questioned Riley, curious.

"Yeah. We couldn't make out any significant details because of the smoke and the shadows cast by the fire, but from a silhouette we saw, Westley and I are sure it was a woman who was attacking us. That's about it aside from one other thing."

Riley looked at him intently as she waited to elaborate.

"Westley and I only ever got one decent look at her figure when we were rushing to the exit, but when she began engaging Ruruki we're positive we saw a fiery glow encompass one of her eyes."

He let out a sigh and continued, "We tried for several weeks to figure out exactly what happened and the best we can come up with is the White Fang got fed up with us constantly interfering with their operations, so they decided to stage the ambush to try and eliminate us as a threat. It really makes you think though. If they have someone like the woman we faced in their midsts just how dangerous is the White Fang truly?"

Riley gave a nod in agreement; the White Fang was certainly not a group to be taken lightly. She remained silent for a short while as she processed everything Axel had told her. Finally breaking the silence she said, "Axel...I've got to ask this. From what you said, I think it's safe to assume you've gone up against the White Fang several times. On sanctioned missions no less. Why in the heck are _students_ actively opposing a political group, terrorism or not? That's something the police or actual huntsmen should be handling."

Look straight ahead at Westley, Axel replied, "You raise a valid question. Unfortunately I'm not the one who should be explaining everything to you. Professor Ozpin gave Westley the freedom to bring you up to speed at his leisure, when he thought you were ready. Because of that you shouldn't hear it from me. It needs to either come from Westley or, and I suppose this is going to be your best bet at present, Professor Ozpin. Sorry."

Riley gave a huff, but couldn't bring herself to argue. She could somewhat see Axel's point and with everything she just learned, she didn't have the energy to try and push him into conceding the information to her. Instead she said simply, "Fine…"

The airship gave a shudder and the sensation of it descending tickled the pit of Riley's stomach. Pelyope was roused from her slumber as the two medics returned from the front and began prepping Westley for departure. Riley and Axel both got to their feet and Riley found herself wondering what exactly her next move was going to be. She had a lot of questions and a lot to process and there didn't seem to be enough time in the world to completely wrap her head around everything. As the ship touched down and the door slid open, Riley watched as Westley was rapidly carted off. Pelyope followed, close on their trail, and Axel moved out after her. Riley stepped up to the opening took a moment to look out over the helipad. Medical personnel were crowding around Westley and she could see Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch observing from afar. Deciding she couldn't remain on the ship any longer, Riley took a step off the Bullhead and concluded her return to Beacon.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Riley impatiently fidgeted in her seat. She was sitting opposite of a bean shaped desk that seemed to be comprised of several large gears encased in glass. The desk belonged to Professor Ozpin, but was presently unoccupied. Riley had been instructed to report to the professor's office and wait for him there. She had been waiting there for almost thirty minutes and was getting antsy from having to sit still for so long. Trying to distract herself from the dread of waiting, Riley took in every detail of the room so as to preoccupy her mind. It was large and circular and very spacious; aside from the desk in front of her there and the chair she was sitting in there was nothing else. Early morning sunlight streamed in from large glass panels that acted as oversized windows. There seemed to be a balcony that encircled the room above her as she could see protective railing, but there wasn't anything that immediately stood out up there from her present point of view. The walls and floor were covered in large gears similar to the table; Riley surmised the professor had some affection for the clock tower feel considering the state of his office.

That was about it. A bland office that was virtually empty. It certainly wasn't what Riley had expected of the headmaster's private room, but then again Riley had always found Professor Ozpin to be someone outside of the standard preconceptions one might have about him. She jumped as the elevator dinged behind her and turned to see Ozpin walking toward the desk sipping a small cup of what smelled like coffee while reading something on his scroll. When he finished partaking of his drink he cast a warm smile at Riley and said, "Good morning, Riley. I apologize for the delay. I just got back in from checking on Westley."

"Oh…"

Riley felt a pang of regret clang in her stomach. It'd been two days since she and her team had touched back down at Beacon and she'd spent most of the time alone. She'd been excused from classes temporarily because of the special circumstances regarding her situation and Riley had wanted time to decompress by herself. As such she had never gotten around to visiting Westley in the hospital. It also didn't help that a severe sense of dread constantly held her back whenever she contemplated going. As Ozpin moved around the table and took a seat opposite Riley, the faunus inquired, "So…um…how is he doing? How bad is it?"

Ozpin raised and eyebrow, "Westley?"

Riley gave a timid nod to which the professor commented, "He's stable for now. Have you not had a chance to visit with him?"

The faunus shook her head.

"Ah. I see," began Ozpin, "Well he's not presently conscious; the doctors thought it best to induce a coma to allow his body to focus solely on repairing itself. Several of his ribs had been shattered completely and those fragments tore through an extensive portion of Westley's insides."

Riley winced at the image. Continuing, Ozpin further explained, "But he's receiving some of the best medical treatment this side of Atlas. I expect him to make a full recovery. Even if it takes several weeks for him to mend completely."

"That's good…" Riley trailed off.

Casting a glance to Ozpin she inquired, "So…why exactly am I here?"

Ozpin took another sip of his coffee before explaining, "Well first and foremost I wanted to see if you were alright. The ordeal you experienced a few days ago is one students of your tenure aren't expected to have to deal with until at least their second year. Most are lucky enough to never experience it while attending an academy. And while your position does lend you to encounter more precarious scenarios compared to your peers, it is unfortunate you had to go through something so traumatic so early."

Riley frowned. 'Her position'. That was a topic that had most definitely been at the forefront of her mind since her return. She'd mulled over everything Axel had told her and recounted all the hairy details of their previous mission and in the end she had several questions concerning 'her position' relative to team WNTR. Before the meeting was over, she _was_ going to have her answers, but for the moment she decided to simply answer Ozpin's immediate query.

"I'm making it. I've had plenty of time to calm down and work on figuring things out, so I'm not as bad as I was the first night back."

"That's good to hear," Ozpin said with a slight smile and a nod, "The next order of business I'd like to address is a recounting of the details of what transpired on your mission. Normally I would be satisfied with a single report from Westley, but considering the circumstances I thought it better to have everyone share their tale. I talked to Axel the day you returned and Pelyope yesterday."

Riley gave a slow bob of her head and asked, "So what exactly do you want to know regarding our mission? I was under the impression you knew everything about it."

"I know of the parameters set for the completion of your mission, yes, but how the team went about meeting those parameters was left to the discretion of your team's leader. I'm also never immediately privy to how events transpire through out said mission. I was just hoping you could walk me through, step by step, what occurred up to your return to Beacon. As I said, I've already received parts of the story from Axel and Pelyope, but I believe you have more details than they do. And with the whole picture at my disposal I can move to respond accordingly to issues brought about in the wake of your mission's completion."

Ozpin wetted his mouth with another sip of coffee and waited for Riley to start whenever she was ready. Taking a deep breath, Riley began explaining to Ozpin exactly how things went down on her first mission. She started with the arrival of the White Fang and then moved to her first sighting of the man in black. Next, somewhat begrudgingly, she explained how she had gone off on her own to purse the man in black and her total defeat. Westley's intervention and eventual routing came after that and then the ride back to Beacon. For the moment, Riley withheld the fact that Axel had told her about what had happened to her predecessor. Aside from Ruruki's death, Riley did her best to convey every element of the mission she could remember. Ozpin remained quiet and seemed to be listening intently the entire time Riley spoke. When she was finished, Ozpin gave a nod to her and said, "Thank you. Your attention to detail was impressive."

"What now?" asked Riley, "Was that it?"

"Now," began Ozpin, "I get the impression there is something you'd like to discuss with me. If I'm correct, by all means, say what's on your mind. I have nothing left to discuss on my end."

Riley flashed back to what Axel had mentioned about her wearing her emotions in her sleeves. She wondered if her displeasure was obvious enough to tip Ozpin off to her intentions. Letting out a sigh, Riley nodded, "Yeah…there were a few things I wanted to talk with you about. I was going to ask Westley about it, but Axel suggested you would be the better option."

"I will do my best to appease you," he answered.

Riley paused for a moment, taking time to organize her thoughts, and then started with, "Well first and foremost what is going on with WNTR? The other three obviously know things I don't and are purposefully keeping them from me. For crying out loud, my first mission with them was protecting a cargo train that was raided by the White Fang! What are students doing clashing with a political group? I don't like being lied to!"

She snapped he mouth shut, not having meant to have raised her voice. Ozpin didn't seem fazed, however. He took a sip of coffee in the silence that followed and then replied, "I apologize for the others, Riley. You are correct. There is actually a lot more going on than you are presently aware of…"

He paused, obviously being careful with how he worded his explanation. When he was apparently satisfied with himself, he began, "I want to preface by stating it was not my nor the rest of your team's intention to lie to you. I hope after I have elaborated on exactly what team WNTR's purpose is, you will understand our hesitancy at immediately bringing you into the fold."

Riley offered naught but a nod in response and, with arms crossed over her chest, waited for Ozpin to speak.

Continuing presently and without hesitation Ozpin explained, "Riley, there is so much more to our world of Remnant than you know. There are forces and individuals scattered across every continent that would like nothing more than to see humanity fall to ruin. I couldn't begin to offer any sort of insight into their thought processes, but the fact stands. These forces work behind the scenes to further their goals and have become increasingly proficient in their affairs. I have been privy to this knowledge for a long, _long_ time and have dedicated myself to striving for the safety of human and faunuskind alike. To this end I have sought out like minded individuals of every race and creed to assist me in my objective and while I am confident in the strength of our small band, it has become painfully obvious that the extent of our reach is limited compared to our opposition. We are spread thin across every continent and have responsibilities that restrict our actions. I do not command an army like Atlas, my influence is not so grand, nor do I have the luxury of opposing them conspicuously. I needed something that could help me in realizing my goals while maintaining enough ambiguity to keep out of the cross hairs of more malevolent forces. The concept that was birthed from my need was a sort of first response unit that could act without oversight from national councils and normal law enforcement."

"And team WNTR is that unit?" questioned Riley, not entirely understanding Ozpin's logic, "Why use students? Why not experienced Huntsmen?"

This drew a small smile from Ozpin who answered, "That's a fair question. The answer stems from my previous point of wanting something ambiguous. Huntsmen naturally attract a lot of attention and most, if not all, have at least some sort of reputation based on the work that they do. Academy students can, similarly to normal Huntsmen, take on missions that can send them to any continent, but unlike their Huntsmen brethren they can move about with significantly less scrutiny. And if the students themselves keep low profiles at their academy that helps even more."

A thought crossed Riley's mind and something suddenly clicked for her, "That's why Pelyope suddenly dropped out of going to tournaments and fighting publically last year."

Ozpin's smile persisted as he continued, "Indeed. So the long and short of the issue is that I required a force that could move around in ambiguity. To that end, I scouted the absolute best of the best of the rising student class last year and brought them together to form the first iteration of team WNTR. Westley, Axel, Pelyope, and Ruruki were _the_ strongest upcoming students to ever grace Beacon Academy in recent years and I believed, or rather still believe, that they are the only proper choice for this responsibility."

"Then why me?" inquired Riley, with a pleading in her voice she didn't mean to have but couldn't control, "I am constantly being told that I was the right choice, that I am definitely up to the task set before me. For the briefest of moments I _actually_ started believing what everyone was feeding me. But this mission made it plain to me that I am completely over my head. What possessed you to pick me? There have to be better choices out there. Thousands of students in the world and you choose me. Why?! And don't feed me that crap that I killed a strong Grimm. I know that there were others in my class that could have beaten it."

"Two."

"What?" blinked Riley, not sure what he was getting at.

"Aside from you there were two other students I was absolutely sure could defeat the Huntsmen Slayer in single combat. And I know that is not a reason you want to acknowledge, but I want to affirm to you that while it wasn't the most major factor in my interest in you, it was something you should take pride in. Amongst every other student in your class, only two of your peers could have matched that feat you performed with one hundred percent certainty."

Riley narrowed her eyes, "Who?"

Without missing a beat Ozpin answered, "Oswin Osprey and Pyrrha Nikos."

Pyrrha was definitely a name that had crossed Riley's mind when Ozpin had mentioned two others of her class, but Oswin's name drop caught her slightly off guard. She had always figured Oswin was skilled, but since Riley had never seen her fight, she didn't have any sort of reference. Pursing her lips, Riley asked, "Then why didn't you pick one of them?"

Ozpin chuckled under his breath, an action that drew a scowl from Riley. The professor drooped his head and murmured to himself, "What is it with this generation of young people questioning my team making decisions?"

The comment obviously wasn't meant to be heard by Riley, but she picked it up nonetheless. Ozpin slowly lifted his head and proceeded to watch Riley for a moment before finally saying, "Truth be told, Riley, you are correct. There are other individuals of a higher skill level than you that I could have picked. Of my peers who were observing your class I was the only one who had hopes for you; the others favored Ms. Osprey or Ms. Nikkos for your present role. But you have something that your friends do not and that I why my support fell on you."

Ozpin sipped from his cup and then continued, "The other two are blessed with a tremendous amount of talent that they have cultivated from an early age. They have trained for the better part of their life and the results are quite apparent. And while they can and likely will continue to improve, their pace has been set. They will only advance at a predetermined amount. That is where you are different. The bulk of your talent has remained mediocre at best during your recorded schooling. It is obvious from a simple review of your file that you lacked any sort of ambition for your training prior to your third year at Signal. That's when you finally set your mind on a goal and started trying. In that single year you grew at an incomprehensible rate. Your academic grades skyrocketed, your combat scores went through the roof, and you have yet to slow down. Your potential for growth exceeds your peers with almost no equal. _That_ Riley is why I hoped you would find the Crystal Relic. _That_ Riley is why I knew you'd find victory against the Huntsman Slayer. _That_ Riley is why I felt and still feel that you were the most proper choice for team WNTR."

Silence fell heavy on the room as Ozpin finished. Riley sat in total quiet as Ozpin's words were milled through by her mind. The professor watched her with a similar reticence, patiently waiting for what Riley would say next. Finally the faunus had come to a decision as to what her response would be, "Sir, I appreciate what you're saying, honestly. There haven't been many people in my life who would say things like that to me and mean it; I can actually count the number on one hand. That aside, the mission made one thing very clear to me. Despite your praise, despite what everyone else has said, I am way out of my league."

"Riley-"

The huntress cut him off, not in any attempt to be rude, but to make sure she was able to get her point across while she still had the courage to talk to the professor so bluntly, "I understand that there are people out there that want to bring down humanity or whatever and that you chose me to try and help stop that, but I'm not ready. Even if you think I'm the right call for this position, as I am now, I just don't think I'm ready for that kind of task. What I'm ready for right now is learning how to fight Grimm and actually fighting Grimm. Me going out into the world to save it from people leagues stronger than me? No. That's not what I signed up for."

Riley gave a sharp exhale as she concluded, "Maybe in a year or two, after I've gotten better. After I've experienced life as a student. If what you said is true about me, my 'potential for growth', who knows where I'll be at in a year. If you're still in need of help then and I think I'm in a good spot, I might just take you up. But for the time being, I want to be taken off of team WNTR; I can't continue on my current path right now as I am."

In what seemed to be a recurring happening for this conversation, silence once again descended on the two. This one, however, was significantly longer than the previous ones. Riley and Ozpin sat in total stillness for several minutes before the headmaster gave a small nod, "If your wish is to be removed from team WNTR, so be it. I still believe you are perfectly fit for the role as is, but if you yourself do not there's nothing much I can do about that. Forcing you to remain a part of the team would be nothing more than detrimental to you and your teammates. However, I have a single stipulation for your request."

"And that is?"

"Give yourself a week. A single week is all I ask. Think over what we've discussed today, reflect on everything that has led you to this point, take time to truly make peace with the trauma you've experienced, and if you still feel the same come seven days time I shall officiate your request."

Riley pursed her lips. She knew what he was trying to do. He was hoping she would falter in her resolve to leave the team, that she would talk with a friend or something and decide not to go through with what she wanted, but the facts were quite plain. Her very first mission pitted her against someone so monstrously powerful he had destroyed her weapon and completely crippled her in one attack. She had witnessed yet another person she knew get struck down by an overwhelming foe in an effort to protect her from harm's way. If those were the kind of threats WNTR was expected to tackle and she couldn't defend herself, how was she was supposed to continue on knowing she'd be nothing but a liability? A week wasn't going to change her mind. There's was no train of thought she could think of that would justify staying on the team and there was definitely nothing anyone could say to her that would sway her. Resolute in her resolve she decided to indulge Ozpin to spare herself the hassle of any sort of argument. Giving a nod she answered, "Fine. One week. But after that I want off team WNTR."

"As you wish," answered a solemn looking Ozpin.

Taking a short breath, he then inquired, "Was there anything else?"

Riley shook her head and rose to her feet, "No, sir."

Ozpin gave an affirmative nod and said, "Understood. Be safe and be well, Riley."

The faunus returned his gesture and turned toward the elevator. Her body felt unbelievably heavy and she was trying desperately to remain composed in front of the headmaster after the serious discussion that had just transpired; speaking as bluntly and as forcefully as she had to a man of Ozpin's calibur was incredibly taxing. The elevator dinged immediately when she pressed the down button and after she had entered she turned to face Ozpin. His expression neutral, the professor watched her silently until the doors had closed and the elevator had begun its descent.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Bright, pleasant sunlight beamed down on the streets of Vale and warmed the top of Riley's head. A gust of wind picked up and tossed her hair about her face, but she was too lost in thought to notice; normally this sort of affront would have warranted the immediate tying up of her hair into a ponytail or other similarly binding style. Her week was rapidly drawing to a close. Four days had already streaked by in a blur and as the fifth day trucked along she found her head filled with hesitation in regards to following through with her present course of action. She still held fast to what she had declared to Ozpin, but, slowly, the realization of what sticking to her guns was potentially going to cost her was setting in. She had blindly assumed that even after the removal from her team she'd be able to continue attending Beacon; thus far she'd effectively been going to classes and training without the rest of her team and it had been going on for so long it felt normal to her. But now she was having a hard time rationalizing a scenario where she stayed at school while running without a team. Virtually every major event, standard or extracurricular, required teammates. If she didn't have a team, how could she continue attending? She could always reapply the following year, but that would put her ten steps backwards; she didn't want to lose that much time.

She released a frustrated growl. Damn Professor Ozpin. Damn him. Riley knew this was exactly what he had hopped to achieve by letting her think things over. He had her deep in a mind game and he was inching closer and closer to victory. She should have forced him to removed her from the team while she was still in the office. This wishy washy mentality residing presently in her head was driving her batty; she hated being so indecisive. She had to do something to set her mind at ease or she was going to-

 _ **SMACK!**_

Something slammed into Riley with enough force to knock her to the ground. Her vision blurred as her head hit something hard and the breath was pushed out of her lungs as something heavy fell on top of her. Whatever it was was warm, squishing her entire torso, and seemed to be moving. Dazed and confused, a low groan not her own informed Riley that it was a person, a man to be specific. Shifting her arms so that they found what she assumed was the man's shoulders she gave a violent shove upwards and whoever it was fell back, now sprawled on his back. Blinking away the stars circling her head she scooted back into a sitting position and did her best to focus on her assailant.

The man turned out to be a tan-skinned boy with short spiky light-blonde hair and dark-gray eyes. He was wearing two red wrist bracers over black fingerless gloves and an open, loose-collared white jacket with no shirt underneath, displaying his muscular physique. He was also sporting blue cargo pants tied up with a white belt. On his legs were white bandages and a chain hung from the belt loop on the right side of his pants. On his feet were black and yellow sneakers and a twisted golden necklace resided around his neck. Sticking out from under his back was a long, thin tail the same color as his hair; he was a Faunus.

Giving a groan he sat up. Shaking his head he seemed to get his bearings straight and when he did so he cast wide smile saying, "What's up pussycat?"

Riley's tail swished across the ground, agitated, and she cast an unamused look at him. Not responding to his question, she voiced her own, "What in the heck are you doing sprinting around corners? You could have seriously hurt someone."

He chuckled bashfully and rubbed the back of your head as he started, "Well-"

"WHERE'D HE GO?!"

"I SAW HIM TURN THE CORNER UP THERE! HURRY UP!"

Dual voices sounded from the way the man had come. The faunus' head snapped around and then returned to face Riley just as quickly, "You've gotta help me escape those two chuckle heads. I'll do anything. They just aren't letting up."

"Who are they? Are you in trouble?"

Riley was instantly on alert. She wasn't exactly thrilled at the idea of helping someone who had just knocked the wind out of her, but if he was being chased by some sort of nefarious folk, it wasn't as if she could turn a blind eye to him.

The man gave a sheepish smile, "I'm kind of in trouble. Those cops have no sense of humor. I tell ya-"

"Nope."

Riley got to her feet and brushed herself off. Any concern she had instantly evaporated. Whoever he was, he had gotten into trouble alright. With the police. Riley was not getting in the middle of that.

"You're on your own," she commented with a deadpan expression as she turned to start walking the opposite direction. A hand suddenly clasped onto her arm. She turned to find the man looking back and forth between the corner and her with a pleading sort of smile. Her reflexive response would normally have been to deck the man in the jaw when he grabbed her, but she stifled it for the time being; she was still doing her best to keep her temper in check.

"Come on!" he half laughed, "I'd normally be fine on my own, but I'm new in town and don't quite have the lay of the land. If you could at least point me in the best direction to escape that would be enough."

"Why on Remnant would I help-"

"HEY! I FOUND HIM! AND HE'S GOT AN ACCOMPLICE!"

Riley's head snapped to the source. Two men, both huffing and puffing, were standing at the corner a little ways down, their hands on their knees. One had medium length, scraggly brown hair and the other had short black hair and a similarly colored beard. Both were wearing black dress pants along with a white dress shirt and black tie. Suspenders stretched over their shoulders from their waists and black sunglasses covered their eyes. The one with the beard extended an arm and pointed at Riley and the man, "You two stop right there! You're under arrest!"

Riley recoiled, shaking her head, "No! I'm not with him! I-"

She was yanked mid sentence down the road by the man, who let out laugh and said, "You've got to help me now!"

Riley tugged back, but couldn't quite get footing enough to resist his pull. Looking back at the cops who were now pursuing them she barked at the man, "Why in the heck would I do that?!"

"Because you're my accomplice," he answered, sporting a grin.

"But I'm not!" cried out an agitated Riley still struggling to get free, "If you'd let go of my freaking arm, I could let them know that!"

"You really think they're going to believe you now?" he questioned with a laugh.

Riley looked back at the two cops chasing them and as their livid expressions huffed and puffed she found herself beginning to doubt how sincere they'd be if she tried to parlay with them; whoever this guy was he seemed to have seriously pissed them off and they looked like they were out for blood regardless of whose it was.

The man spoke again, "The way I see it, you've got two options. A) I let you go, you spend the day in a cell trying to explain to them it was just a coincidence we were together, and I get away or B) you help me escape and we both go on our merry way without having to deal with incarceration. Which one strikes your fancy?"

Riley scowled at him, but knew he was right. There was no way she was spending the rest of her day in jail, so there was really only one option open to her. Releasing a defeated grunt she resigned herself to her course. She ceased fighting against the man's pull and began to pick up her pace. She increased her stride and very quickly had taken the lead with the man dragging behind her. At her tempo they pulled ahead rapidly and Riley took a sharp turn taking the two out of view of the cops. Not stopping, Riley crossed the street, dodging through the light traffic, and slid them into cover behind a trash can locate in a nearby alleyway. The smell of spoiled food and scummy waste immediately assailed Riley's noise and she had to suppress an audible gag; sometimes her nose was more of a curse than a blessing. Steadying her stomach and making an honest effort to breath through her mouth rather than her nose, she peeked her head out from around the corner of the bin and surveyed the street. Just a few seconds later the cops rounded the corner and Riley watched as they began craning their heads trying to locate her and the man she was with. The one with the beard set his eyes on the alley and Riley's head snapped back around out of view.

Maybe he hadn't seen her. Maybe they were in the clear. Maybe they were-

"Let's check that alley!" called out the one with a beard, "I think I heard some honking earlier. They might have crossed the street."

Crap!

If they took off now, their position would definitely be given away and the chase would continue. If they waited too long to make a decision it might not give them enough wiggle room to put sufficient space between them and their pursuers. Riley rapidly tried to process the duo's options and suddenly something clickedin her mind. Pointing her index finger straight out and raising her thumb to form the shape of a gun she directed it at the man's neck.

"Shout something distracting!" she hissed.

He blinked blankly at her as she formed the shape with her other hand and pointed it at a large truck parked on the other side of the street.

"What?!" he exclaimed, an act that prompted Riley to cast a steely glare at him my him to keep his voice down.

"Just do it," she snapped, "On my go."

A nervous expression dawned on the man's face, but he gave a small nod. Riley took a deep breath, prayed she didn't botch this, and nodded to the man. With one final gulp he opened his mouth and shouted, "Hey law man! Not being able to catch a couple kids must be driving you _bananas_! Why don't you stop _monkeying_ around and _swing_ into overdrive?! Not gonna catch us otherwise!"

Riley looked at him with an expression that simultaneously displayed unadulterated disgust as well as unbridled agitation. Regardless of her reaction, the words exploded in a booming fashion, but not where the man had expected. Instead of directly from his mouth, what the man had said sounded from somewhere behind the truck Riley had pointed to on the other side of the street. The bearded cop twirled around and growled, "Over there! Let's get them!"

The cops sprinted toward the truck and disappeared behind it, streaking out of view. The man stayed crouch, waiting for several minutes before finally standing. As he let out a sigh of relief, his gaze fell upon his savior and saw that she was still glaring at him something fierce. Taken aback, he exclaimed, "What?!"

"Bananas? Monkeying around? Seriously?"

Riley's eyes twitched just repeating what he had said aloud. A proud smile formed on the man's face, "I know right? Genius! Definitely got their attention!"

"Sure did….." Riley responded through gritted teeth.

"By the way," started the man, "That was awesome what you did! Was that your semblance?"

Riley narrowed her eyes at her companion, "Nope. I'm not answering any of your questions until you answer mine. What exactly did you do to piss off those cops?"

The man chuckled a little and answered, "Well you see…."

* * *

"So you're telling me that my entire afternoon was ruined and I was almost arrested because you didn't want to wait with the rest of your class for a regular ship from Mistral?"

Riley's tail swished back and forth, silently displaying her unspoken agitation as she sipped her frozen coffee. Sun Wukong, who had introduced himself shortly after the two were in the clear, nodded with a smile, "That's the short of it. What can I say? I can be somewhat impulsive."

Sun, like Riley, was a Huntsman-in-training. He hailed from the desert kingdom of Vacuo on the western side of the continent Riley was presently on (known as Sanus), but attended school on the eastern continent of Anima in the kingdom of Mistral. In anticipation of the upcoming Vytal Festival Sun had stowed away on a ship bound for Vale from Mistral because it was the faster route here. Normally he'd have had to wait for Haven Academy, Mistral's equivalent to Beacon, to officially charter passage for its students, but Sun couldn't be bothered to wait around with the rest of his class. She was attempting to formulate a response when Sun questioned, "So are you as excited for the Vytal Festival as I am? Because I am _stoked_ for the tournament!"

Sun pumped his fist out in front of him and dance a little in place, unable to contain his energy. Riley rolled her eyes and took another elongated sip from her coffee. Shrugging she responded, "I don't know. I probably won't be fighting this year. So not really."

Riley felt the blatant lie sink in her stomach like a rock. Of course she was excited. The Vytal Festival was an international, multicultural festival that brought together residents and representatives from all four nations across the globe once every two years. This gathering was a symbolic event meant to show everyone on Remnant that peace was still prospering in the world. Every culture imaginable brought a little bit of what made them them and shared it with others. Food, music, theater, art, everything one could think of was brought together in a single location and partaken of by all creeds and people. But despite the significance of the cultural cornucopia, the main attraction of the festival was something much more basic.

The Vytal Festival Tournament.

A gladiatorial clash between the four Huntsman academies: Shade, Beacon, Atlas, and Haven. Teams of students from every scholarly term competed against one another in a fight that was supposed to not only demonstrate combat superiority, but encourage a departure from mediocrity on the battlefield. You had to be not only powerful to progress to the final rounds, but cunning as well. If you couldn't adapt on the fly your chances of success were less than ideal. Riley had been itching to partake in the battle royale ever since she had set her sights on Beacon, but considering her current situation she was doubtful she'd get the chance this go around. Even if she did find herself still attending Beacon come the day after tomorrow, Ozpin's wish to have her team become nondescript meant participation was probably out of the question.

A frown had set in on her face as the thoughts crossed her mind and Sun commenting didn't help her mood, "What?! You're not going to participate in the tournament?! I cant-! Wha-! Dude!"

Riley gave a loud huff and cast a narrow eyed glare at the monkey. Sun immediately recoiled and held up his hands in defense, "Okay. Obviously not a topic you want to discuss."

He shifted his hands to the back of his head as the two continued to walk and said, "How about something else than? I told you my story. So what was up with what you did earlier with my voice?"

Riley pursed her lips. Waiting a moment as she drank some more of her coffee, she finally answered, "It was my semblance. I can control sound."

"That is so cool!" exclaimed Sun, "What exactly can you do with it?"

"Well I can throw voices if I concentrate hard enough. I can increase the intensity of a sound, which is what I do most of the time when I'm fighting. And I can do a lot of other things I'm not in the mood to talk about. I don't have a lot of control over my semblance, so I don't really like doing anything excessive."

"Are you kidding? You should totally try and do more with your-"

"How about you?" Riley interrupted, diverting the subject, "I told you mine, now how about you tell me. What's your semblance?"

Sun, while momentarily dejected at being cut off, perked up when asked about his semblance. He hopped ahead of Riley and clapped his hands together. Immediately bright light was emitted from his body and two glowing, golden spectres formed behind him. They looked identical to Sun and the moment they had formed, he separated his hands and held them out, palms facing up. The clones jumped into the air and landed on his open palms, balancing themselves.

"TADA!"

Sun cast a wide beaming grin at Riley as he waited for her response. She barely held back a reflexive smirk at the over the top exhibition as she continued to walk past him commenting simply, "Neat."

The clones kicked off Sun's hands and, mid air, faded out of existence. Sun turned quickly and engaged in a brief jog to catch up to Riley before falling back into an equalized pace. The two walked in silence for a little while before Sun finally spoke up, "So I hate to pry-"

Riley immediately blew air out her nose; she was fairly certain Sun had no qualms about poking a prodding someone. Sun ignored the gesture and continued unabated, "But why aren't you participating in the tournament. As someone who has seen their fair share of disappointed people, I'm pretty good at picking out the expression. You obviously want to go. Is it your teammates that don't want to do it? Is it because you're worried about classes?"

Riley's mouth pressed into a thin line. This was not a subject she was going to talk about. She was going to hold fast against his badgering and-

 _Poke._

Sun poked her shoulder with his finger, "Riley?"

She didn't acknowledge him. She was just going to remain silent and he'd eventually get the poi-

 _Poke, poke._

He poked her twice. A vein popped on her head.

 _Poke, poke, poke._

Yep. That was her limit. Her head swiveled swiftly to look at the expectant Sun and with an intense glare she barked, "It's because I'm not going to be at Beacon come Saturday! Okay?!"

Her head snapped forward and she picked up her pace, pulling ahead of Sun. He quickly caught up to her and questioned, "What are you talking about? What do you mean you aren't going to be at Beacon after Saturday?"

"Exactly that," growled Riley, "I'm removing myself from my team which means that's it for me at Beacon this year."

Sun moved in front of her, momentarily blocking her, and she had to fight the urge to use her semblance to forcibly remove him. He obviously was very familiar with the glowering expression Riley had on her face and promptly rose his hands up to indicate he wasn't looking for a fight. He moved to place a hand on Riley's shoulder, but she was no longer in the mood to be nice. In one swift motion, her own hand snatched his out of the air, twisted his arm behind him, and began placing pressure on his wrist. Sun let out a yelp as his body submitted to Riley's hold and doubled over. Through a pained wince he shouted, "I yield! I yield!"

Riley maintained the hold for a few seconds before letting him go. Sun scrambled forward a little and wrung out his wrist. As he did so he used his good hand to motion to a bench nearby, "I was just going to suggest we sit."

The huntress-in-training studied him for a moment and decided it would be too much of a hassle to try and fight him. Plopping down on the seat, she placed her drink on the arm rest and crossed her arms over her chest. Sun did the same, but rather than nonchalantly taking a seat like Riley he cautiously lowered himself down on the other side of the bench. The two sat in silence for a short while, both awkwardly twiddling their thumbs waiting for the other to speak. Riley was _not_ going to initiate any sort of conversation regarding the topic; she actually didn't even _want_ to be sitting here right now, but found herself unable to just bolt and run from Sun. She wasn't too sure why that was. Finally, much to her chagrin, Sun piped up, "So I know this seems to be a sensitive subject, but it might help a little if you talk about it."

"And if I don't want to?" questioned Riley with a touch more venom than she intended

Sun shrugged, "Does it really matter if you want to if you need to? Have you talked to anyone about what's eating you?"

Riley pursed her lips and narrowed her eyes at him, "...No."

Turning to face forward, she let loose a heavy sigh and began elaborating, "My first mission in the field with my team ended in disaster."

"You're already going on missions?" Sun inquired, "We have to wait until at least half way through our first year before they let us loose."

Riley gave a nod, "Yeah. That's how it is for Beacon too. I've got special permission because I was placed on a second year team."

Sun's eyes widened and his mouth hung agape, but before he could say anything Riley commented, "Don't bother asking. It's a long story and not super relevant outside of it being the lead into why I'm leaving."

The monkey nodded, clearly still curious, but willing to hold off while the present discussion occurred. Instead he asked, "So your first mission didn't go so well? Why would you quit because of that?"

This drew a bitter scoff from Riley, "'Didn't go so well' is an understatement. My team leader, Westley, is currently comatose in the hospital. And if it weren't for me he wouldn't be there."

Sun winced, "Jeez. That's rough. So it was your fault he got hurt?"

"Yes," Riley replied, "Well…no. I mean it is, but it isn't, but it is, but-."

"Riley, make a sentence," said Sun.

Giving a groan, almost a week's worth of bottled frustration exploded out as Riley half shouted, "I got angry because he held back some seriously relevant information about our mission and I went off on my own instead of waiting for backup. He wound up having to save me and in the process got hurt really badly. My other teammates assure me I'm not in the wrong, that it's not my fault, and I guess their reasoning is sound, but I feel like this entire scenario just cements the fact that the headmaster made a decision putting me on team WNTR. It also doesn't help that there's a whole other can of worms that was just opened for me regarding my team and it's just way too much for me right now. Everyone and their mother have been telling me over and over that I'm the perfect fit for this team trying to make me feel better, but I know for a fact I'm not. That's why I'm leaving the team. It'll be better for everyone."

Huh. Riley suddenly _did_ feel better. If only a little bit. No way was she going to display that fact to the world, however. She huffed and crossed her arms again. Her eyes darted back and forth between looking at Sun and looking straight ahead. Her faunus companion seemed to be mulling over what she had said before stating, "So I'm sorry you have all this on your plate, but I think if a whole bunch of people are telling you you're the girl for the job, maybe you should listen to them. They might be right."

Riley turned her head to look at sun and frowned, "So you think everyone else knows me better than I do?"

"Take it from me Riley," Sun laughed as he leaned back on the bench, "You don't _always_ know what's best for yourself. Scarlett, a friend of mine, is constantly telling me not to do whatever it is I'm about to do. But every time I think to myself 'What does he know? I can handle this!' Spoiler alert. I couldn't handle whatever it was I was getting into."

He chuckled to himself and stated, "For example you and me. I was sure I'd be able to make it to Vale with no problem by stowing away on a ship. Next thing I know I'm almost arrested. If only someone else who knew me better had cautioned me to not stow away."

"But you would have stowed away anyway," commented an unamused Riley, "Because you believed you were in the right."

"...Point is!" Sun continued unabated, "Just because I believe one thing doesn't mean it's a fact. And if several people are attempting to correct you, it couldn't hurt to maybe listen a little bit. A hair of confidence in yourself goes a long way."

Riley ran her fingers through her hair and grunted in frustration, "This is exactly what I wanted to avoid. I didn't want anyone trying to talk me down!"

Sun perked up and began bouncing a little as he sat, "Does that mean you're going to stay with your team?"

In response, Riley swiftly stood up and said, "It means I'm going home. Thanks for the coffee, Sun."

She turned on her heels and began walking away. After just a couple steps she stopped, swallowed what little pride she had left and turned to say, "And thanks for the talk."

"Thanks for keeping me out of jail!" Sun beamed, "I hope I get to see you in the tournament!"

Riley quickly averted her gaze so he didn't see her deep frown set in. Taking a deep breath, now more confused than ever as to what her answer to Ozpin was going to be, she set off down the street heading back toward Beacon.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The early evening air was cool as it flowed over Riley's skin. She looked around and grumbled under her breath. She was meeting with Ozpin bright and early in the morning to discuss her future and she was stuck wondering the streets of Vale lost. She hadn't grown up in Vale, staying on Patch virtually the entire time she was at Signal, and before arriving at Beacon had never actually been to the city. She'd had time to explore some of it over the last couple of weeks, but there were still several areas with which she had no knowledge of. Yesterday's encounter with Sun had prompted her to exit her comfort zone as far as traversing the city was concerned as she didn't want to risk running into the two cops she had given the slip to and because of both that as well as her completely becoming engrossed in thought to the point she was no longer paying attention to her surroundings she was now decisively off track. The sun had set just a couple minutes earlier and that had acted as Riley's wake up call to pay attention. Based on the higher class looking buildings as well as the distinct smell of salt water, Riley surmised she was toward the farther end of the commercial district. Which was unfortunate considering this area was rather empty at this time of day; most everyone who would normally be here had finished work and migrated home for the evening. She had seen a couple of cars drive by, but none had stopped when she tried to flag them down for directions.

She stopped walking and removed her scroll from her belt pouch. She pulled up her contact list and frowned. There were several options that were open to her, but none immediately jumped out at her. She could call Oswin, but if word got back to Krystal or Rigil Riley would never hear the end of it. Ruby was an option, but she was hesitant for the same reason as Oswin only this time it was Yang giving her hard time rather than Krystal or Rigil. Obviously Yang herself was out of the question. Riley scrolled past Tifa's number and felt she would be a good choice; Nightlock might pop off one sarcastic quip if he heard about it, but he wasn't likely to hold it over her head and she seriously doubted Shen and Ombra would care enough to do anything. Her finger absentmindedly continued to scroll down and a set of names appeared on the screen that caused Riley's stomach to drop. Westley, Pelyope, and Axel.

Westley clearly wasn't a potential choice and the other two…

Ever since Riley had gotten back from the mission, she'd been sleeping in the library only going to her dorm room for a change of clothes. She'd been fortunate enough to avoid Axel and Pelyope the entire time. Riley was sure they knew about her potentially leaving the team and was equally positive that they would have tried to talk her down if given the chance. She hadn't wanted to have that conversation with them and had actively been staying away from them. If she called one of them now she was simply opening herself up to giving them a chance to try and sway her decision. Sun had done enough to give her reason to falter and she wasn't planning on allowing more interference before the final meeting. She scrolled back up to Tifa and was about to hit call when she heard voices nearby.

Perfect! If she could catch whoever it was maybe she could avoid calling someone altogether!

Riley took off down the road and cut into an alley on an intercept course with the origin of the voices. The alley was set up to dump out into a small, open ceiling parking lot surrounded by several buildings and Riley was relieved to have finally found someone who could help her. It was a modest sized alcove betwixt the buildings only large enough to accommodate five or six vehicles. She passed by a large pile of crates and opened her mouth to announce her presence when several smells hit her nose at once. The smell of vomit was quite prevalent and the all too familiar metallic scent of blood permeated her nostrils, rapidly becoming close to overwhelming. Then there was the distinct musky smell of someone she recognized. All of the color drained from her face as she looked upon the scene laid out in front of her. About thirty feet away was a man laying face down on the ground. He was wearing a black suit and black sunglasses and had a bald head with a tan complexion. Behind him was a blue sedan, its windows painted with crimson, and beneath him was an ever expanding pool of blood. Riley could just barely make out blank eyes staring lifeless at the wall across the way from behind his skewed glasses. Next to him was the source of the voices Riley had heard. A young woman, a Faunus based on the canine ears protruding from her brown hair, was being held suspended in the air by a gaunt, pale white arm extending from beneath a black cloak. That would have been enough for Riley to recognize him, but the mask confirmed it; it was the man in black from the train.

Riley immediately ducked behind the nearby crates and tried to keep her breathing steady. Her body was in overdrive; her lungs were trying to take in copious amounts of air, her mind was absorbing every tiny detail her eyes picked up as they darted back and forth, her heart was racing at a rate Riley didn't think was possible.

What was he doing here? Why was he attacking this woman? What should she do?!

Riley slowly peaked her head from behind the crates as she heard a dialogue begin. A deep, raspy voice emanated from beneath the mask addressing the woman, "Give…me…what…I...want…"

Through pained, labored breaths the woman whimpered, "I…can't! Please! Let me go!"

Riley had to do something. This woman was so far beyond simply being in danger Riley couldn't think of a proper word to describe the situation. She could try to attack him, but not only was she weaponless, she knew full well that he was way out of her league. A thought suddenly flashed in her mind. Something about the man's semblance. She'd mulled over it ever since the incident, but wasn't 100% sure if she was right. She also wasn't sure how she'd exploit it. She could probably do it with her semblance, but…she didn't want to risk hurting the woman. Not only did Riley dislike the usage of her semblance this situation called for, it was something that was incredibly hard for her to control. Even then it might not be enough to even the playing field. She took a few deep breaths and pulled out her scroll. If nothing else she needed to let someone know. Almost on autopilot, Riley scrolled down to Axel's number. She poised her finger over the call button, but froze when the man spoke again, "So…be...it…"

Riley's head moved out from cover just in time to see the woman's head vanish. Her body dropped to the ground with a sickening thud and blood began oozing out from what was left of her neck. Riley almost vomited then and there. The sheer amount of willpower Riley had to produce to keep the contents of her stomach inside her was not something she had thought she was capable of. The man in the mask began rifling through the woman's body and pulled out the woman's scroll. Standing erect, the man in black removed a second scroll from his cloak and dialed a number. A man answered after a few rings and said, "Yeah, yeah what is it?"

"Objective…complete. What is…your status? Are...you...finished?"

"Keep your skirt on, Rammy boy!" the voice responded nonchalantly, "Were just getting to the docks now. There's no guards around; we'll get the dust and be out of here in no time!"

"Do...not…fail…Torchwick…"

The man in black disconnected and began looking through the scroll he had taken from the woman's body. Riley ducked back behind the crates and panickedly began tapping the call button. After a moment of silent ringing, the call seemed to have connected. Immediately Riley hissed, "Axel! Can you hear me?! Axel!"

No response came through and her eyes darted to the top right of her scroll's screen. Her stomach dropped when she saw the lack of service her phone was getting. Desperately hoping he could hear her she whispered pleadingly, "I'm in the financial district I think! The man in black is here! I need help! I need-"

A shadow fell over Riley and her head slowly turned around. Her vision was filled with black as she stared directly at the clock the man wore. An arm shot from beneath the fabric aimed directly at Riley's face. Just barely reacting in time, Riley dashed to her right and bolted behind the man into the parking area. In the process, however, her scroll skipped across the ground out of her hands.

Crap!

Riley took several steps forward but realized she had no egress in this direction. The entire area was closed off with the only exit being the way she had come in. She twirled around to face the man in black and began slowly backing up as he approached. She was cornered. There was no escape now. Riley grit her teeth in frustration.

 _Damnit!_ she thought to herself.

Why? Why were the machinations of fate so against her? She had persevered and gotten into Beacon against all odds. But then she'd been thrust onto a team she had no bearing with and after weeks of isolation was informed she had to help bear the weight of the world on her shoulders. She'd always prepared herself for life and death situations, but within the last week she had found herself in two; one ending in her leader critically injured and one in which she now had no escape.

This was it. This is where she was going to die. Her eyes darted to the bodies laying nearby and the thought of sharing a similar end made her stomach flip. She jumped as she touched something hard with her back. Her head snapped around to reveal she had backed all the way up to the wall. The man in black continued at his calm pace toward her and Riley squeezed her eyes shut trying as best she could to brace herself for the end.

Visions of her aunt and uncle flashed across the blackness that had overtaken her eyes. Following them were the friends she had encountered in her short tenure at Beacon; teams SOAP and ROOK, RWBY and JNPR, Sun, and Gabby. Yang laughing at some stupid joke she'd just heard rang in her mind. Then came Westley's annoying, carefree grin, Pelyope's warm, sisterly smile, and Axel's voice…

 _It would be wrong on so many levels if you let him get away without justice for anything less than everything he was guilty of._

Riley's eyes flew open.

It was almost as if she could feel the warmth of his hand comforting her's and a wave of calmness washed over her. He was right. Riley had a chance now to set things straight. She didn't have time to worry about dying. She didn't have the luxury. Not yet anyway. Her endgame was becoming a huntress, no matter how long it took her, and as Axel had told her: _This right here is one of the risks each and every single one of us who are working toward that same goal will face every day of our lives henceforth._

Riley relaxed her body and took a deep breath. The man in front of her had a weakness. She had thought long and hard on it. Sometimes he dodged attacks, other times he didn't. There was something specific about the workings of his semblance. She couldn't have any doubt of that; she had to be right. That was the only way she'd be able to survive. Concentrating with every ounce of energy she had, Riley activated her own semblance.

Silence.

Absolute silence filled the area. The distant honking of horns, the myriad of sounds originating from unseen insects, the occasional sigh of the wind. All of it ceased. The man in black immediately stopped and glanced around. Riley's voice pierced the quiet as she watched the man in black, "I want to preface that I hate using my semblance the way I'm about to use it. When I was growing up I was prone to being bullied. I had one heck of an attitude and the other kids took exception to that."

The man in black focused on Riley, not offering any sort of response, but not resuming his advance. Riley continued, "One day when I was getting beat on, more violently than usual I might add, I just sort of snapped. And that's when I found out what my semblance was. It allows me to adjust the intensity of sound and manipulate it as I see fit."

Riley motioned around the area they were in and elaborated, "Take this for instance. The only audible sounds here are my voice and your voice. I've reduced all other ambient noise to zero for about a hundred feet all around me. The reverse is also possible. But as I was saying, the day I first activated my semblance I had no control over it and I permanently deafened seven other children. How about a demonstration?"

She narrowed her eyes at the Ram mask and activated her semblance once more. A high pitched whine arose amid the silence and the man in black suddenly doubled over with a pained grunt, a hand darting to where Riley suspected his ear would be. The scroll he had been holding, the one he had removed from the woman, clattered to the ground and stopped near the crates by the exit. As he removed his hand, Riley could just barely see a red stain. She smiled. Letting out a sigh of relief, she said, "I just burst one of your ear drums by raising the intensity of the sound rattling around in there to 160 decibels. You've probably got a pretty bad headache too. Sounds that loud can shake your brain."

The man in black's head snapped up at Riley and the normally black eye sockets on the skull flared bright red.

Welp. That got his attention.

Riley acted quickly. She was one step closer to confirming her hypothesis, but she still needed to test one more thing. She promptly reared back her head and then threw it forward releasing a scream. As the scream left her lips, the natural screech was amplified tremendously by Riley's semblance and a nigh invisible wave of sound rocketed at the man. He reacted just as swiftly as Riley anticipated and dodged to her left. The instant he made his move, Riley lashed her foot out and kicked a large hunk of brick laying nearby at him. The rock approached, but the man did not move to alter his position, rather he stood still and allowed the rock to fly true. The piece of stone never made it to its mark, however, as it seemed to warp around him, pushed out of the way by some unseen force.

Another breath of relief left Riley's lips and this seemed to catch the man in black off guard. His eyes shifted back to black and he stood erect once more, studying Riley carefully. The faunus placed a hand over her chest and felt her heartbeat becoming more uniform; the adrenaline was still causing it to beat quickly, but it wasn't erratic. She smiled at the man and stated, "I think I finally figured out your semblance. I didn't notice it until I was alone with my thoughts several days after the train. I couldn't stop replaying the scene of our fight in my head and I thought it was strange that you occasionally dodged despite having some sort of semblance that redirected attacks around you. This little scuffle right here confirms my suspicions. You can only redirect things that are visible to you. You dodged my basic sound blasts from my guitar, but my elemental attacks you just redirected. Same thing happened with Westley and Axel. You bent Westley's weapons around yourself, but dodged out of the way of Axel's air bursts. Now that I know that, I'm much more confident I can take this. So let's get this over with."

The man in black seemed to glower at her through his mask and responded with, "As…you...wish...Let...us...end...this…"

His cloak rustled some and then split apart revealing a darkness that Riley's eyes couldn't pierce. From it emerged two arms one of which held a large, metal circle with a iron rod down the center; this object was as tall as the man's torso and twice as wide and Riley couldn't fathom how it fit beneath his coat. He shook it once and the circle split in two, the halves pivoting into a locked position at either end of the rod forming a sort of double sided scythe. He began slowly spinning it, moving it back and forth between his hands, and started circling around toward Riley. His spinning picked up speed and rapidly the weapon became a blur. Riley and the man continued to predate around each other not saying a word for several seconds. Then the man made the first move. He instantly stopped his spinning and carved the scythe through the air vertical while still several feet away from Riley.

If it weren't for the faunus' advanced senses she probably wouldn't have seen the danger. The air rippled ever so slightly as particles of dust were pushed out of the way by some unseen force. Riley dodged to the left and felt a gush of wind flow into her by the dispersed air. The line continued past her and hit the car near the bodies. It was instantly cleaved in two. Riley's head snapped back to the man in black and narrower her eyes. This was an unfortunate development.

The distant honking of horns became apparent once again in Riley's ears and she frowned. This much action was still too much for her; she couldn't split her concentration between holding her barrier of silence while simultaneously fighting. Truth be told she was surprised she'd been able to attack the man in black without it failing the first time. Regardless it wasn't too big of a deal. She'd really just erected it as an example. This actually probably worked better. If she were lucky the sound of their combat might draw enough attention to scare her adversary off. To that end it was time to go on the offensive. She could bypass his semblance now, but range was still a problem as he was quite swift. She had to close the distance and hit him point blank. Riley took a deep breath and dashed forward.

The man in black was quick to answer her charge. He twirled the scythe in front of him and then flicked it at her; Riley was already expecting that. She planted her left foot had in front of her, pivoted her body so it was parallel to the nearly invisible arc of energy, and immediately kicked off the ground. That action threw her into a rapid cartwheel and she rolled right into the man in black's melee range. Appropriately, he reangled his scythe to slash at Riley perpendicularly. Riley's adrenaline spiked and everything seemed to slow. Her hand was on the ground and her body was almost straight up. She exhaled softly and bent her elbow. She then launched herself into the air, the scythe cutting a few strands of her low hanging hair. She twisted herself so she was facing the man in black and, with a deathly glare, she released a high pitched screech. The man in black was in no position to move out of the way and was hit full on by the blast. His body was slammed into the ground and he ping ponged into the nearby wall leaving an impressive crater. He collapsed to the ground, peeling off the wall slowly and falling to one knee. His scythe had been thrown across the lot and was near the bifurcated car.

Between Riley's adrenaline and excitement at her managing to get a leg up on the man, she was visibly shaking. Her excess amount of energy brought forth her anger and frustration and she could feel those emotions welling in her throat. She desperately wanted to give into those emotions and let them run wild, but she decided instead to take in several short breaths to regain her composure. She couldn't afford to relish the achievement yet. He wasn't defeated and Riley had a feeling she had only pissed him off more than anything else.

The man staggered to his feet. His upper body continued to remain hunched over and his arms dangled in front of him. His raspy voice then sounded, "I…underestimated...you...Playtime...is...over…"

The bottom of his cloak waverd for a brief moment before several tendrils of blackness exploded out from it. Several of them lashed out at Riley and she found herself back flipping to get out of the way. Despite her swiftness the tentacles continued to pursue her. She rapidly ran out of room and realized she was almost to the wall. She added extra spring in her last flip and landed on the wall. She kicked off before gravity acted on her and soared into the air. She thought she was momentarily in the clear, but an additional tendril branched off from an existing one and latched onto her ankle. She was lifted further into the air and then viciously slammed into the ground. The concrete broke under the impact and the wind was blasted from her lungs. Pain flared violently through her entire body and through her daze Riley was shocked that her aura was still up.

She tried to get to her feet, but several tentacles snatched her off the ground. Her wrists and ankles were restrained and pulled taut. She opened her mouth in an attempt to bellow at him, but another tendril shot into her mouth. She felt it snake down her throat and then into her lungs. It started expanding and pain erupted in Riley's chest. Her mind kicked into overdrive as oxygen quickly became scarce. Unable to breath she vainly struggled to gasp for air, but found it impossible. Blackness started encircling her eyes as the man spoke, "Be…proud...It...has...been...so...long...since...I...had...to...exert...myself...so...I...commend...you…"

Riley felt her body going limp despite her wanting to fight desperately to escape. She wanted to become angry or frustrated or anguished, but she couldn't find the energy to evoke those emotions. As her vision slowly faded, however, she found she had just enough energy for one other emotion. As the man had said, she felt a sense of pride. She had put up a damn good fight if she did say so herself. Against someone like the man in black? Even if the fight was brief, that was pretty spectacular if she did say so herself. With no weapon and just her semblance, she did leagues better than her first encounter with him. Maybe Sun had been right. Maybe everyone else hadn't been exaggerating. Maybe she had been a little hasty in her decision to leave team WNTR. Perhaps if she had somehow managed to live, she would have reconsidered. Of course this revelation didn't matter too much now. She was seconds, perhaps minutes away from death; hindsight _is_ 20-20.

As darkness completely enveloped her sight it felt as if her body was in free fall. She felt a sensation akin to wind flowing over her body and suddenly the obstruction in her lungs liquified. Riley entered into a coughing fit and what she could only describe as tar was ejected from her mouth. She found herself on the ground and quickly shifted onto all fours. The sludge oozed from her lips and spalttered on the concrete. It remained there for only a few seconds before dissolving into wisps of black smoke. As her vision returned she noticed three pairs of feet standing in front of her. She did her best to blink away the stars in her eyes and immediately recognized who it was.

Westley, Pelyope, and Axel.

She looked at them, dumbfounded, and questioned through several more coughs, "How?"

"Your scroll," Axel explained, "Your call came through and stayed connected. We heard most of the fighting, save for a few moments of weird silence, and immediately began tracking it. If you hadn't called well…"

"But how did you get here so fast from Beacon?" Riley slowly stood up, wobbling some, but was steadied by Pelyope.

Axel once again answered, "We weren't at Beacon. Obviously."

He turned to face Westley who gave a grin. He was wearing his duster, but beneath it it was plain to see the speckled hospital gown. She couldn't see much beneath the gown itself, but bandages completely covered his neck and disappeared below it. Riley involuntarily winced. Pelyope spoke up this time, "Westley just recently regained consciousness a few hours ago and we were at the hospital visiting him."

Riley focused on Westley and felt tears welling at the corners of her eyes. A stream of emotions hit her all at once: relief that Westley was okay, thankfulness that she was still alive, unexpected happiness to see her teammates after a week of separation. Wiping at the water before it spilled over she mewed at Westley, "I'm so sorry that you got hurt. I-"

Westley waved her off, "Don't worry about it. No big thing. Beside, chicks dig scars. Plus you should see the other guy. He's way worse off."

Riley blinked at him, confused, "What are you talking about?"

She turned to where the man in black had been and saw him silently watching the exchange; he didn't seem the worse for wear at all.

Westley moved past her, clapping a hand on her shoulder as he did so, and stated, "Give me a minute. That's going to make more sense in a second."

Westley took a few steps forward and held up a hand I greeting, "Long time no see! Or at least so I've been told. From my perspective I just saw you a couple minutes ago. But it's apparently been a week. Let me tell you how sorry I am for taking so long to get back to you. I'm not usually this bad at returning favors."

"You...should...be...dead…" hissed the man who was readying his scythe (he must have recovered it while Riley was blacking out).

This drew a laugh from Westley, "And you should know something about me. I'm one stubborn son of an Ursa. If you want me dead you had better make sure I'm not breathing before you leave. I've got a nasty habit of getting back up eventually."

"Westley!" Riley blurted out, realizing that a confrontation was imminent, "He can't deflect attacks that he can't see!"

Westley looked back at Riley with a carefree smile, "Huh. That's good to know. You did good Riles. Real good."

Team WNTR's leader then turned on the man in black who released a growl, "You…plan...to...attack...me...by...yourself...? Not…relying...on...back...up...would...be...suicide…"

"Recommending that my friends join the fight would actually be suicide for you. I should be plenty," Westley chuckled.

"Do...you...not...remember...our...last...encounter…?"

"Oh believe me I do," answered Westley confidently, "The difference this time is that I know how your ability works and I'm not currently flying. You see my Gravity Shift has several applications, like my Grey Shift which you witnessed. Lessens the hold of gravity surrounding me allowing me much more fluid movement and even flight. The only downside is I can't use more than one application at once. I've been drinking plenty of juice, though, in an effort to get around that, but I'm still working on it. So how about I show you an application you haven't seen yet? You ever bench pressed a Goliath?"

Westley closed his eyes for a brief moment and when he opened them again he said, "Dark Shift."

Riley could just barely see Westley's bronze irises flash a much more brilliant hue than normal before seeing the man in black attempt to attack. Tendrils of darkness streamed at Westley, but never reached their mark. Their position seemingly instantly changed to being on the ground. It looked almost as if they were being squished. The man in black was similarly affected. For the first few seconds he seemed to be resisting Westley's attack, but was swiftly brought low. His body crumpled under the weight of gravity Westley was imparting on him and he was seemingly immobilized. Westley looked upon his work, clapped his hands together like he was wiping dust off them, and said, "Well that's that. Who's up for a little dinner? I am _famished_!"

Before any of the others could respond the man in black started speaking, "This…isn't...over…"

Everyone turned to look at the man and watched as wisps of black smoke covered his body. The smoke plumbed and then crashed into the ground causing a great gust of wind. The group had to avert their eyes momentarily and when they looked back the man in black was gone. Riley frowned deeply, "We were so close…"

Westley shrugged, "Eh. We'll get him next time. In the meantime, however….I'm going to fall over."

And just as he had declared, Westley pitched forward, his legs giving out beneath him. Riley let out a yelp and tried to move to catch him, but Axel was quicker on his feet. He caught Westley before he had fallen too far and chuckled, "I told you not to overdo it."

Westley gave a wave of his hand, "I think I did _it_ just enough."

Pelyope shook her head and smacked the back of Westley's. The Huntsman-in-training jumped at the impact and exclaimed, "Ow!"

The drew a soft laugh from Riley. She watched the three of them briefly as Pelyope scolded Westley and Axel neutrally officiated as Westley attempted to argue back. She found herself distracted, however, as a thought popped into her head. She turned in a circle as she tried look for it. Where was it? Did the man grab it before Westley and the others had gotten there? Please still be here. Please-

There it was!

Riley staggered over toward the crates and bent over. From behind Westley called out, "Hey Riles! What are you doing?"

Picking up her target she turned and held up a bloody scroll. As she did she explained, "The man in black was here trying to get this. He…killed those two over there for it."

She pointed to the bodies nearby and upon seeing them Westley frowned and commented, "Huh. Imma throw up."

Axel, with impressive precision, immediately wheeled Westley around forced his torso to double over. Once again true to his word, Westley deposited the contents of his stomach all over the ground. Pelyope danced out of the way, a look of disgust plain on her face, as Axel held Westley's hair out of the way. We he was done, Westley righted himself, wiped his face with the sleeve of his duster, and said, "That's just gross. Let's talk about that scroll! Bring it here."

Riley walked over and handed it to Westley. He opened it and tapped a few buttons. Everyone crowded around him and looked over his shoulder as he did so. Riley cocked her head when she saw that there was nothing but unfamiliar symbols bouncing around the screen. Axel rubbed his chin and stated, "There seems to be some heavy encryption on this scroll. Just what is in this?"

"Haven't the foggiest," answered Westley. He closed the scrolled and shoved it into his pocket, "We'll take it to Oz and see what he says."

Westley turned to Riley and continued, "Speaking of which I heard it through the grapevine that you're gunning to get taken off the team."

Riley nodded, "Well yes I was, but after this I-"

"I'm not going to allow it."

"Excuse me?" Riley blinked at him, "I don't see how you have any say in the matter."

"I'm your team leader," Westley explained matter-of-factly, "You can't do anything regarding extreme team decisions without my go ahead."

"Well that's just not true," scowled an increasingly agitated Riley.

"Oh but it is! Did you not read the fine print when you filled out your application?"

Riley narrowed her eyes at him, almost answering him with a snide comment that referenced where he could shove the fine print, but took a few deep breaths to calm herself before going with, "Well fine print or not, it doesn't matter. You don't have to worry about me making any sort of 'extreme team decisions'."

Pelyope perked up at this, "Wait. Does that mean that you've come to a decision on leaving WNTR?"

Riley didn't answer at first, biting her lip as she weighed the outcome of her answer. Thinking back on everything that had happened since the day prior, she steeled her resolve and stated with affirmation, "We've got a lot of work to do if we're going to save the world or whatever. Don't think I'm quite ready to the leave fate of my friends in the hands of Westley Fullbright. Where do we go next?"

 **RWBY PU VOLUME 1**

 **END**


End file.
